Senator Voinovich of Ohio, who was not a favorite of the party’s conservative wing, saw the handwriting on the wall and threw in the towel today on his 2010 re-election bid.From Virginia’s Mason Conservative blog:

“The media will make this out to be some sort of disaster for the Republicans, but I don’t care.  Guys like Voinovich, Kit Bon, and Mel Martinez are the kind of mushy-mouth Republicans that have helped to muddle our message, betray our values, and ultimately loose credibility.”

The above criticism of “Sen. Smug” may have been a factor in his not seeking re-election. With a “staff run amok,” political observers speculate that other factor(s) such as: Vaneaton/U.S Attorneygate, Blackfacegate, FannieMAEgate, and his ardent support of pork and the auto bailout, may have factored in that decision as well. 2010 would have been a tall order.