DAYTON DAILY NEWS                    Copyright (c) 1996, Dayton Newspapers Inc.DATE: Saturday, March 23, 1996               TAG: 9603230076EDITION: CITY           SECTION: METRO       PAGE: 1B  TYPE: CENTERPIECE; PROFILESOURCE: By Tim Miller COLUMBUS BUREAUCORRECTION:    THE PUBLISHED VERSION OF THIS STORY CONTAINED AN ERROR WHICH               WAS EITHER  CORRECTED OR OMITTED IN THIS ELECTRONIC FILE.                          SEE PUBLISHED CORRECTION       TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1996                                                                                                                        THE REPUBLICAN TICKET?            OHIO'S POTENTIAL VP VOINOVICH IS UNASSUMING CANDIDATECOLUMBUS -   Declining to go on Larry King Live might seem a strange decision for someone being considered as U.S. Sen. Bob Dole's vice presidential runningmate.   But then Ohio Gov. George Voinovich doesn't play politics by the book.   With Dole sewing up the Republican nomination for president with sweeping  wins in four Midwest primaries, including Ohio, the speculation has picked up about whom Dole will choose for a running mate. Voinovich is on the short listof candidates.   How a career politician with an admitted lack of charisma who often rejectsnational attention got on that list is a complex question.   It's one, perhaps, Larry King wanted to ask Voinovich but might not get thechance.   King wanted the three Midwest governors - Voinovich, Michigan's John Englerand Wisconsin's Tommy Thompson - to appear together on his national cable TV  show to discuss their chances of getting on the ticket.   Voinovich declined, saying if the show was focusing on devolution - the  shifting of power from Washington to the states - or welfare reform, he would be interested. But not to talk about himself.   Voinovich's supporters say that's Voinovich - he truly cares about making  government "work harder and smarter," and "doing more with less," and his  career comes second. Critics say he's just masterfully skilled at hiding his  ambition.   "I've seen few politicians so adept at doing whatever it takes to pursue  higher office and yet give off the perception that, 'aw shucks,' he's just  doing his job," said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Leland.   Whichever's the case, Voinovich is being seriously considered for the No. 2spot because:   * Ohio increasingly is being seen as a pivotal state in the November  election.   * As a fiscal conservative who's strongly anti-abortion, his selection  would not alienate the conservative wing of the party, including supporters offormer TV commentator Pat Buchanan.   * He embodies what might become the Republican's main campaign message -  give us control of Congress and the White House and we'll lower taxes, spur  economic growth and make government "do more with less."   Despite protests by Voinovich that he's not pursuing the vice presidential nomination, close aides and friends have been doing all they can to persuade  Dole that Voinovich should be the one.   Months ago they mailed a video biography to top Republicans and opinion  leaders across the country chronicling Voinovich's rise from state  representative, Cuyahoga County official, mayor of Cleveland to governor of  the seventh-largest state.   Meanwhile, his chief of staff, Paul Mifsud, is using his connections to  promote Voinovich. Mifsud is well known in national GOP circles because of hiswork in former President Bush's campaign organization and for his fund-raisingefforts for Bush and other GOP candidates.   Voinovich has traveled frequently to Washington in recent months to lobby  Congress on such issues as welfare reform, returning more money and power to  the states and - his favorite theme - convincing Congress that Americans want government to "do more with less."   In the past two weeks, he stood steadfastly by Dole's side as he campaignedin Ohio. Voinovich loaned his strong political organization to Dole to help  raise much-needed campaign money and get out the vote.   "He's done all you can possibly do," said Curt Steiner, the chief executiveofficer of the Ohio House who ran Voinovich's gubernatorial campaigns in 1990 and 1994. "But he would have done all those things anyway because he believes in Bob Dole.   "The question, quite simply, becomes, 'Who can provide the most help in  electing Bob Dole president in November?' Bob Dole has a lot of time to think about that," he said.   Voinovich is convinced that Dole will wait until the Republican National  Convention in San Diego in August before announcing his selection. "That's  when you want to generate the excitement and make the news," he said. "It  would spoil the convention if he named a running mate before then."   Only on rare occasions, generally under desperate conditions, have  candidates picked a running mate well in advance of the convention. Dole has  been coy about the issue, saying he's too busy wrapping up the nomination to  give much thought to the second spot on the ticket.   He did telephone Voinovich after his smashing victory in the Ohio primary  over Buchanan, a win that enhances Voinovich's status. Dole also commented  that while he campaigned in the Midwest he got a chance to closely observe  Voinovich, Thompson and Engler.   "It was a good opportunity to do that," Dole said.   All three of the Midwestern governors are anti-abortion Catholics. They allenjoy high popularity ratings after easy re-election victories in 1994. Each  has implemented cost-cutting welfare reform programs, and all are career  politicians with big ambitions.   A major impediment to Voinovich's chances is his lack of charisma and  plodding campaign style. Some Ohio reporters quickly labeled the potential  ticket "Dole and Dull."   But among those being mentioned, only Engler is seen as being fiery on the stump, and he may be hampered by having waited until just days before the  Michigan primary to endorse Dole. Voinovich was the first governor to do so.   Voinovich may also be helped by the perception that he's a conservative  "with a heart." Although he's held state spending in check, Ohio is a leader  in funding Head Start, a program designed to help poor children.   "He believes that government should help those who can't help themselves,  but should provide 'tough love' for those capable of helping themselves,"  Steiner said.   Those who have followed his career closely also know that he's passionate  about his family and his religion, traits he occasionally reveals. But he's  also passionate about politics and public service, feelings he discusses  somewhat reluctantly.   In an interview last year he said, "God gives each of us a mission and for those of us in government service it's to do what we can with the skills that we've been given to make things better for as many fellow citizens as we  can."   Whether Voinovich gets to pursue that lofty goal on a national level right now is up to Bob Dole. State Rep. Pat Sweeney, a Democrat from Cleveland who  has known Voinovich for 30 years and who lost to him in a Cleveland mayor's  race, said one of the things he admires about him is that "whatever happens,  he goes on. He's had personal tragedy, he's had political losses, but he's so comfortable with himself that no matter what, he just plugs ahead."   That perhaps explains Voinovich's dismissal of talk about the vice  presidency.   "If it happens, it happens," he said. "All that really matters is electing Bob Dole the next president of the United States."BOX:      ---------------------------------------------------------------------                            GEORGE VICTOR VOINOVICH     ---------------------------------------------------------------------     * Born: July 15, 1936 in Cleveland     * Wife: Janet     * Children: Three grown children, George, Betsy and Peter. Molly, the       youngest, was killed in a traffic accident on her way to school in 1979,      an event that Voinovich says strengthened his and his wife's faith.     * Religion: Roman Catholic     * Ancestry: Grandson of Eastern European immigrants     * Education: B.A. Ohio University, Juris Doctorate, Ohio State     * Political history:     - Inaugurated as Ohio's 66th governor Jan. 14, 1991     - 1979-91 Mayor of Cleveland. He is credited with spearheading the       city's economic revival.     - 1979 Lieutenant governor under Gov. James Rhodes. He held the  position     only a few months before he was elected to a two-year term as  mayor of      Cleveland.     - 1977 Cuyahoga County commissioner     - 1971-76 Cuyahoga County auditor     - 1967-71 Member of the Ohio House of Representatives     - 1963 Assistant Ohio attorney general     ---------------------------------------------------------------------     LENGTH: Long  :  166 LINESILLUSTRATION: PHOTOS:          1. Possible pair: Gov. George Voinovich, shown in a March photo with          presidential candidate Bob Dole, is said to be on the short list of           vice presidential candidates. But it still isn't known if the two            will be driving for the White House together.          CREDIT: JACK KUSTRON/ASSOCIATED PRESS          2. Campaigning: Gov. George Voinovich speaks at a rally in support            of a Hamilton County sales-tax increase.          CREDIT: TIM UHLMAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS          SUBJ: CANDIATES      ELECTIONS      REPUBLICANSNA: GEORGE VOINOVICHAT: VICE PRESIDENTSENHANCER: REF5================================================================================ 2 of 7, 2 Terms                                                      Pg 3 of 3 Transfer complete. Press [RETURN] to return to Menu: