WASHINGTON — George Voinovich is not a politician known for extremes. Methodical and prudent, he is more inclined to study than to spin.

        So when other senators popped up on television to grouse over the marathon presidential election, Mr. Voinovich mostly kept quiet. When he chose to speak, he talked of the importance of an orderly transition to the White House and a well-trained federal work force.

Sen. George Voinovich (GNS photo)

        Not exactly stop-the-presses material, but objective, solid advice to calm the turbulence.

        In his first two years in the Senate, Mr. Voinovich, a former Ohio governor and Cleveland mayor, has encountered the impeachment trial of a president, a war in Kosovo and the often humbling difference between being in charge and working in a chamber filled with powerful equals.

        Some speculate that Mr. Voinovich is bored or frustrated with the job and the obstacles of moving legislation through the federal maze. But he said in an interview Thursday that he relishes the opportunity.

        “People say, "Are you adjusted here?' I never want to be adjusted. If I ever tell you I'm adjusted, you don't want me in the Senate,” he said. “Some will say, "You're frustrated.' Yeah, I'm frustrated. But if I'm not frustrated, then you'd better get rid of me because there is always something to do.”

        Mr. Voinovich said he is not interested in a spot in a Republican administration if one were offered and already has started raising money for his re-election campaign in 2004.

        Although pressure likely will be on Texas Gov. George W. Bush, if he becomes president, to enact tax cuts quickly that have stalled under President Clinton, Mr. Voinovich recommends caution.

        He would like to see Congress draft a budget next year with spending increases at about the rate of inflation, add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, and devote any additional money to draw down the $5.7 trillion national debt.

        Mr. Voinovich thinks popular tax reforms such as eliminating the marriage penalty and the estate tax can wait until later, a position in conflict with Republican leaders. He also hasn't missed the irony that Republicans, who for years mocked the Democrats as spendthrift, have themselves busted spending caps in the balanced-budget agreement.

        “I'm afraid that when Republicans, particularly, find out the binge this Congress went on to buy their way out of town, they will be irate,” he said. “We've been spending money like drunken sailors.”

        As a zealot on the debt, it was somewhat unusual that Mr. Voinovich was a leader in pushing federal aid for workers exposed to hazardous materials at Cold War era nuclear plants. Workers who became sick from jobs at sites such as Fernald, the Mound plant in Miamisburg and the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon soon will be eligible for $150,000 in compensation and a lifetime of health benefits in a massive new federal entitlement program.

        Mr. Voinovich said he was moved after meeting with workers in Piketon, about 100 miles east of Cincinnati

        “Sometimes you don't really appreciate something until you really touch the wound,” he said. “These people, if you just look at the record, you'll see we treated them horribly.”

        Richard Fenno Jr., a political science professor at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y., said governors who move into the Senate often are confounded by an immediate loss of power and attention.

        One governor who made the switch to the Senate once told Mr. Fenno: “When I was governor, I pushed the bell and everybody ran. Now that I'm a senator, the bells ring and I run.”

        “One of the things governors find difficult is that they used to be in charge, and now they have to negotiate with 99 other senators,” said Mr. Fenno, who has written several books on the Senate. “It takes a lot longer to see results.”

Hospitals plan for flu attack
N.Ky. gets needed vaccine
Panel will push for fewer tests
Quakes here? You bet
Stadium price tag increases not over
Voinovich brings methodical focus to Senate
Crayon children send thank-you
Norwood mayor: Let's make up
No cases of infection found after girl's death
Police: Fake cop pulled car over
Arena for NKU boosted
Banker to head bureaucracy
Booze policy revised for UK athletes
Clermont official to leave
Community center adds space
I-275 reconstruction will be model for Ky.
Mardi Gras input sought
Ohio sales-tax revenue below expectations
Parks take census of bird population
Patton officials prepare to leave
Residents seem open to idea of light rail
Speaker blocks annexation vote
Six want Deerfield trustee position
Tristate A.M. Report