Sen. Voinovich (R) wants to withdraw from Iraq: 'Bush plan falls short'

[bigtree]

Senator seeking plan Democrats, GOP can support

Saturday, September 15, 2007 3:28 AM
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

WASHINGTON - Sen. George V. Voinovich thinks that President Bush's plan for the Iraq war that he presented Thursday night was a "good step forward," but it fell short of the more sweeping change needed in Iraq, a Voinovich spokesman said.

"He wants the president to announce a responsible, comprehensive plan to militarily disengage from Iraq," Christopher Paulitz said yesterday.

Voinovich, R-Ohio, viewed by the White House and war critics alike as a key war-policy vote, has been "trying to broker a compromise," Paulitz said. But until yesterday afternoon, Voinovich had resisted efforts to discuss publicly how he would end U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Paulitz said Voinovich wants to come up with a "middle ground" on when and how to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq in a way that would attract support from congressional Republicans and Democrats, as well as the White House. Paulitz declined to elaborate.

Supporters and foes of Bush's Iraq policy have pressed Voinovich to take sides, particularly after the Ohio Republican sharpened his criticism of Bush's strategy earlier this year.


He has been trying to "work behind the scenes and get something done" by forging a compromise between GOP and Democratic Senate leaders and the White House, Paulitz said.

Yesterday, according to his office, he told people at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Chillicothe: "What tees me off is this has been too politicized and I'm tired of hearing it is a Democrat vs. Republican thing. Since I came back from Iraq, I've talked to both the president and (national security adviser Stephen) Hadley and told them we need a drawdown of troops and a refocus of the mission."


report: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/national_world/stories/2007/09/15/gvviraq.ART_ART_09-15-07_A3_6C7TJK9.html?sid=101

[Botany]

1. I have $50.00 that says Voinovich votes w/ bush on the war.

Georgehas been known to back down.

BTW I hope I am wrong

[gratuitous]

4. No bet

I remember Voinovich publicly agonizing over the war a few years ago, only to scurry back into the Republican corral when the issue came up for a vote. He's a magna cum laude graduate of the Arlen Specter School of Political Grandstanding, incapable of independent votes, but easily capable of independent-sounding utterances when a reporter strays too close to him.

[KharmaTrain]

2. You Know What Happens To People Who Stand In The "Middle Ground"?

They get rolled over by both sides. Yet another WINO...saying one thing when the mikes are on and then quietly will suck up to the party when the whip is cracked.

The "middle ground" is what the SILENT MAJORITY in this country want...get our troops out and now, not later! Defund this illegal war, revoke the IWR and bring our troops home NOW!

[bigtree]

5. well, the entire institution runs on compromise

and we all know that dedicating as much attention, lives, and resources to aid a foreign government as we are in Iraq isn't really a conservatives' dream. I've always wondered at what point these ideologues in the republican party will have had enough of nation-building and will force an end to the fast failing (failed) enterprise.

We need republican votes on legislation mandating some sort of end to the occupation. Obviously, most of us in opposition want a clean end. But, the only way to ensure ideological or strategic purity in legislation is to have the plurality of votes to get it done. We don't have that. I'm not buying the non-legislation defunding schemes which folks are promoting as options (mostly, I think, to maintain their distance from the political realities in Congress) and II think a slim hope remains in pressuring vulnerable republicans like this one into putting their votes behind their rhetoric.

[maseman]

3. First off Voinovich

You know you have an election coming in a few years and you see what happened to your buddy Mike DeWine.

I would love for Voinovich to really go up against the President. He's done it before and has broken with he repukes on some issues.

[JBoy]

6. Another rat

fleeing the sinking ship!

[L. Coyote]

7. Will he be marching today?

[partylessinOhio]

8. George Voinovich will flip flop and get back under the wing of GeorgeWar.

Voinovich needs to retire already. His blind following of the Repuglican Party is sickening.

[bigtree]

9. I do think he may be the one who offers up the bait

with a plan that looks on the surface like withdrawal, but is really just stay the course.

The other report I saw doesn't sound like he's ready to be the swing vote we need for timetables. He'll likely serve as the republican alternative, the advancing of which will make me crawl under a rock (or stand under a falling one) if Democrats bite.