A senator thinks, so D.C. shudders
Friday, April 29, 2005
Tom Feran
Plain Dealer Columnist
I don't know what Ohio voters were thinking when they sent George Voinovich back to Washington last fall.
Even though he's been a senator since 1999 and has held offices including county commissioner, mayor and governor since 1967, the man doesn't seem to know how the game of big-time politics is played in the nation's capital.
We saw a startling demonstration of this last week, when Voinovich stunned his colleagues and made national headlines by his actions at a Senate committee meeting.
In public, he revealed he actually had used a Senate hearing for the purpose of "hearing" something. Not only that, but Voinovich let it slip that he was influenced by what he heard.
He would have drawn less attention if he showed up drunk.
The setting was a meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which was going to vote on the nomination of John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations. Voinovich said he went expecting to vote in favor of it.
I thought Bolton might be in trouble because he has dark brown hair and a bushy white mustache. The effect is not as creepy as the beard on ex-WorldCom chief Bernard Ebbers or anything about Michael Jackson, but it is disturbing.
Voinovich, however, was more concerned about questions if Bolton, an undersecretary of state for arms control, bullied underlings and tried to pressure intelligence analysts to conform to his views. A former assistant secretary of state called him a "kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy," who "abuses his power and authority over little people."
Because of those reports, Voinovich changed his mind. He said he did not "feel comfortable about voting for Mr. Bolton today," and he urged the panel to take more time.
"I think they raised some legitimate issues," he said. "I think we ought to find out what they are. I think we ought to get the information." If that sounds like common sense, it only shows how little we know about big-time politics.
Congressional aides described the development as "stunning." The room "erupted," according to news stories. Voinovich's request for more information was called "out of nowhere" and "something amazing."
"It was a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' moment," one reporter said.
"In nearly 30 years of watching Congress," wrote another, "I can't remember anything quite like it."
This was echoed by one of Voinovich's Republican colleagues on the committee. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, whose father was also a senator, said, "I don't know if I've ever seen, in a setting like this, a senator changing his mind as a result of what other senators said."
Because Voinovich wanted more time, the committee will hear more about things such as claims that Bolton acted "like a madman" by chasing and throwing things at a U.S. agency worker through a hotel in Russia.
"My conscience got me," Voinovich said. "I think one's interpersonal skills and their relationship with their fellow man is a very important ingredient in anyone that works for me. I call it the kitchen test. Do we feel comfortable about the kitchen test? I've heard enough today that gives me some real concern."
Maybe the senator thinks he's working for the Cleveland Browns. In last weekend's draft, they listened to their board of scouts and coaches to take the "best available player" in each round, instead of, say, phoning Butch Davis for his picks. Or maybe he thinks he is in the judicial branch of government, where they weigh "evidence" and "testimony."
Standards are different in Congress.
"This is a disgrace, the idea that temperament is suddenly important," said Danielle Pletka, vice president of the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank. "There are legions who have gone before John [Bolton], as well as members of Congress, who have behaved appallingly."
Obviously, she would make a separate category for Voinovich, a loose cannon with a conscience who uses hearings to hear things, instead of using them to get some time on C-SPAN. It's not the way politicians are expected to behave.
And that part is really appalling.