Steve Benen is surprised that my fellow Serbian-American Sen George Voinovich (R-OH) is speaking sense on taxes. But the truth is that Voinovich has long been one of the few Republicans who has actually been a consistent voice of fiscal realism--what most Republicans honor in the breach is what Voinovich usually honors in the observance. It's the most noteworthy thing about the guy, as his wiki page correctly notes. He really is a penny-pinching fiscal conservative, which makes me think that his getting into office in the first place must have been an accident.
The Democrats actually have a fair shot of winning his seat, as the GOP unwisely ran Bush 43's former trade rep and budget director to replace Voinovich. It's a close race, one that might be helped by the state's Democratic Governor facing another oddly weak Republican candidate who can't stop talking about all the damn rednecks in his state. Still, the irony of one of the only actually fiscally responsible GOPers being replaced by a Bushite in a year when the Republicans are campaigning on the issue is a pretty biting one to me.
