Obama's Horrid Senate Voting Record

[MethuenProgressive]

Obama making less than a quarter of Senate votes
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/02/obama.missed.votes/

Looks like his excuse for missing the "surprise" Kyl/Lieberman vote (that 98 other Senators voted on) was less than truthful, too:

Obama missed a vote on a resolution that declared the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, an elite part of the Iranian military, a terrorist organization. He has criticized Clinton for voting for it, saying it would give President Bush a "blank check" to invade Iran.

"This kind of resolution does not send the right signal to the region," Obama said during a presidential debate earlier this week. "It doesn't send the right signal to our allies or our enemies."

Obama was campaigning in New Hampshire when the vote was taken. His campaign blamed his absence on the short notice given when the vote was scheduled. But two senior Democratic Senate aides said senators were advised the night before that the vote would occur the next day.

[Clintonista2]

1. But..but.. I thought Harry Reid was out to get him!?

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Lucinda]

2. He missed or just voted "present " a lot at the state level too

Tis a pattern

[emilyg]

6. Tis.

[MethuenProgressive]

18. "Obama missed most votes of any Democratic presidential hopeful in the Senate over last 2 months"

Sen. Barack Obama has missed the most votes of any Democratic presidential hopeful in the Senate over the last two months, including a vote on an Iran resolution he has blasted Sen. Hillary Clinton for supporting.

The Illinois Democrat has missed nearly 80 percent of all votes since September.

[flpoljunkie]

52. However, Biden and Dodd have missed more votes this year than any other Dem Senators running.

[bigdarryl]

63. I don't think he likes being in the Senate thats why I think he will run for Governor of Illinois

[Buzz Clik]

3. And what are the voting records of the other Presidential candidates?

This happens every cycle. I'm surprised that CNN stooped to this partisan bullshit.

[Bluebear]

7. "Partisan" bullshit?

[NMMNG]

17. "They do it tooooo" seems to be the only defense

the Obama campaign/supporters have lately.

[Alexander]

62. Because it's total hypocrisy to single out Obama for something all the other candidates do.

Like, for example, miss votes and have homophobes contribute to their campaigns.

For some reason Obama receives the wrath of many DUers for this.

[NMMNG]

64. It's total hypocrisy for Obama to twice call for the firing

of people who espouse racist views, yet willingly utilize multiple rabid homophobes as part of his campaign. :shrug:

And what Obama has done, as it has been pointed out numerous times, is worse than what the others are doing.

[Buzz Clik]

65. Missing votes is simply a part of the equation for a member of Congress seeking the Presidency.

It happens every time with every candidate; yet, those reporting the numbers act like they've discovered something shocking.

[Clintonista2]

8. In the same article, CNN compared Obama's horrible record to McCains horrible record

Hardly partisan.

[Buzz Clik]

66. Funny how that part wasn't in the OP, eh?

McCain had a horrid voting record in 2000, as did Kerry and Edwards in 2004.

Oh, yeah. We forgot. :silly:

[ClarkUSA]

10. During 2007 overall, Biden and Dodd missed the most Senate votes respectively.

In the time period mentioned, Obama missed one more vote than Clinton.

Voters understand that presidential candidates can't make every vote because of very tight campaign
schedules. None of the Democratic candidates have great attendance records this year.

As for the two senior Democratic aides, it depends on who you believe (and who "they" support for the
primary), I guess.

[MethuenProgressive]

22. 80% to 63% = one vote?

The Illinois Democrat has missed nearly 80 percent of all votes since September.
Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware has missed 68 percent of the votes during the same period, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut 65 percent and Clinton of New York 63 percent.

17% = 1 vote?

[ClarkUSA]

25. Sorry, I misspoke.

I meant to say that Obama missed one more vote than Clinton during 2007 overall, not that
it makes a difference to me that either missed many votes. It's campaign season and that's
to be expected.

Thanks for the correction.

[karynnj]

27. Since September vs 2007 to date

[Lucinda]

11. Its run through DU here a few times the past month or two

Obama was clearly the no-show winner.
The others were grouped together at just about the same missed percentages. If I can track it down I'll come back with a link.

[Buzz Clik]

67. That would be great.

[Lucinda]

68. Sorry for the delay. No broadband where I live :(

It was faster for me to find an outside source for the percentages. If you click on the senators name at the link below, one of the categories will show missed votes for each candidate. They have them for the house too.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/senate/members/

If you want to see the DU threads, a search for "missed votes" will probably being up all the local stuff. Sorry! I just can't get fast enough thread search results to pull them for you. It was so sloooooooow! :(

[Buzz Clik]

69. Thanks! I found the relevant info, and I'm putting it at the bottom of this thread.

[Mojorabbit]

4. I am not an Obama fan

but a notification the night before isn't very much time.

[Clintonista2]

5. Enough time or not...

Obama's claim is that they were not told about the vote, period. This has now been proven to be a lie. Every other Democratic candidate made it to the vote.

[ClarkUSA]

13. I wouldn't trust unnamed sources regarding any candidate.

We never know the motives involved. It's politics, after all.

[MethuenProgressive]

12. HE's claimed "1/2 hour" which everyone knows couldn't have been true.

98 Senators, and all the other Presidential hopefuls, made the vote.
And, moreover, Obama has made Clinton's vote on this bill a centerpeice of his attacks on her - a bill so important, and he couldn't be bothered to go vote himself? (btw, he flies on a private jat, and Manchester to DC is a short hop.)

[ClarkUSA]

21. Link, please?

I'd like to know more about this story angle. Thanks in advance.

[itsrobert]

19. True

Just more distortions from the Hillary campaign. Why are they attacking our own candidates? Why don't they attack republicans instead?

[MethuenProgressive]

26. "Despite his condemnation for K/L, Obama didn't vote against it."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/10/11/once-quiet-obama-now-cha_n_68099.html

Despite his condemnation for Lieberman-Kyl, Obama didn't vote against it. He didn't vote at all. Both he and Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, were on the campaign trail when Majority Leader Harry Reid allowed the amendment to hit the Senate floor (on relatively short notice).

But even prior to the amendment's passage, the Huffington Post has learned, Obama didn't weigh in. According to a high-ranking Hill staffer, "he wasn't there at all," neither during debate over the measure nor when the Democratic caucus purged two provisions that, among other things, would have declared prudent the "use of all instruments of United States national power in Iraq... with respect to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Obama also didn't mention the amendment during the most recent Democratic presidential debate despite being asked two questions specifically about Iran. The debate was on Sept 26, the day the measure was approved.

[patrice]

9. We NEED campaign finance reform!! And paper ballots counted in public.

All political issues and people are warped by the status quo system.

Campaign finance reform and paper ballots counted in public should be the sine qua non of populist support for any candidate.

[CyberPieHole]

14. Obama's presidency (perish the thought) would follow the same pattern...

instead of making tough decisions he seems to prefer making himself scarce.

[CyberPieHole]

15. Off to the greatest page with you. K&R n/t

[jlake]

16. Obama is the worst kind of liar

He thinks that everyone is stupid enough to believe any BS he spews.
He should switch parties.

[Nothing Without Hope]

20. I believe he only wanted to be a senator as a stepping stone. And I believe that

the ultimate plan is for a Clinton/Obama ticket. His voting record has not been progressive and speaks for itself.

[MethuenProgressive]

55. I would've agreed completely with you last month,

but the Clinton/Obama ticket won't happen now that he's decided to go all Karl Rove over her ass.

[Nedsdag]

72. He decided to "Karl Rove over her ass?"

Isn't that what Hillary is doing with her "Whatever happened to the 'Politics of Hope'" meme?

:shrug:

[maximusveritas]

23. What a crappy article

Missing votes happens when you're running for President. And especially when you don't have someone like Bill Clinton who can campaign on his own for you.

This is the same crap they tried against Kerry and Edwards in 2004. It's sad that anyone would actually take it seriously.

And I love the bit about these "two senior Democratic Senate aides". Are they aides for Clinton and Biden perhaps? The Senate record is clear that Harry Reid said the night before that the vote wouldn't happen anytime soon. So it looks like these 2 aides are lying under the cloak of anonymity.

[Clintonista2]

24. Of course you miss votes when you run for president

The key is, don't blast other candidates for voting a certain way, when you didn't even bother to vote.

[ClarkUSA]

31. Didn't Obama put out a press release prior to the vote saying he opposed Kyl-Lieberman?

Presumably, he'd have voted that way if he could have made it back from wherever he was campaigning.

Anyway, there's no reason for him or Clinton or Biden, etc. not to draw distinctions regarding policy differences
between themselves and others. That's really the only way voters can make decisions in the end.

[Clintonista2]

32. Nope

He put one out a few hours AFTER the vote, though.

[MethuenProgressive]

33. Never said anything at all about - until after he missed the vote.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/10/11/once-quiet-obama-now-cha_n_68099.html
Despite his condemnation for Lieberman-Kyl, Obama didn't vote against it. He didn't vote at all. Both he and Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, were on the campaign trail when Majority Leader Harry Reid allowed the amendment to hit the Senate floor (on relatively short notice).

But even prior to the amendment's passage, the Huffington Post has learned, Obama didn't weigh in. According to a high-ranking Hill staffer, "he wasn't there at all," neither during debate over the measure nor when the Democratic caucus purged two provisions that, among other things, would have declared prudent the "use of all instruments of United States national power in Iraq... with respect to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Obama also didn't mention the amendment during the most recent Democratic presidential debate despite being asked two questions specifically about Iran. The debate was on Sept 26, the day the measure was approved.

edit spelling, fixed link

[Clintonista2]

34. I can gaurantee you, had Clinton voted NO

Obama would have targetted her for being "weak" on the issue of Iran.

[MethuenProgressive]

37. Especially since he co-sponsored a bill similar to K/L earlier in the year.

He thought calling them out for supporting terror was a good idea. When it was his idea, that is...

[ClarkUSA]

48. Thanks for the link.

I appreciate it.

[ClarkUSA]

47. Ah, thanks.

Nonetheless, I don't have a problem with any of the candidates going after each other regarding
policy differences between them. It's what voters need in order to make up their minds.

[RaleighNCDUer]

36. "...don't even bother..." to make a last minute flight in the middle of

the night hundreds of miles to catch a vote that may or may not happen when you have campaign committments where you are the next day - possibly at the same time as the vote (which may or may not happern, as you were previously told it would not be anytime soon)?

Sheesh.

Maybe, instead of attacking his NOT voting you should be trying to defend Hillary's vote in favor of attacking Iran.

[Clintonista2]

39. That's his job

Jobs can be difficult sometimes. If he really cared about the issue of Iran, he would have made every effort to get back to Washington on time.

[RaleighNCDUer]

56. You think maybe he is atute enough to know that his vote, either

way, was not going to affect the outcome? It is not as if he had a deciding vote. He knew that his vote against would make no difference - and condemning those who voted 'for' is just as effective for getting himself on the record as actually casting a vote. If he wanted to conceal his feelings, let people think he was on the fence or something, he would have never condemned the vote.

So realisticly, if his vote couldn't change anything, why lose the sleep while on the campaign trail?

If he thought it was going to be a squeaker, I suspect he would have made the trip. Practical politics.

And I am not speaking as an Obama supporter.

[Clintonista2]

57. By your logic, Hillary's vote didn't mean anything either

It still would have passed even if she had voted no. So why is he attacking her over it?

[RaleighNCDUer]

59. Because she didn't vote no?

You're grasping, there.

[Clintonista2]

61. Obama didn't vote no, either

At least Hillary went on record. Obama waited a couple hours to see how he could politically position himself before deciding where he stood.

[MethuenProgressive]

41. You repeat memes.

1) about his excuse for not returning to vote with the other 98 Senators.
2) K/L is "in favor of attacking Iran"
Though oft repeated, neither is true.

[maximusveritas]

42. That's what this is about; they can't defend Hillary's vote, so they attack Obama's non-vote

Not sure who they think they're fooling.

[MethuenProgressive]

29. You repete the meme:

"Senate record is clear that Harry Reid said the night before that the vote wouldn't happen anytime soon."
Do you have a non-Obama link for that?
98 Senators voted. Why weren't they surprised?

[maximusveritas]

38. Here's a link

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r110:1:./temp/~r110orK2C9:e130345:
"Mr. Chairman, there will be no more votes tonight. We have tried to work something out on the Kyl-Lieberman amendment and the Biden amendment. We have been unable to do that.

We have been very close a few times, but we have just been informed that Senator Biden will not have a vote anytime in the near future. There will not be a vote on the other one anytime in the near future."

The other Senators had no prior engagements that required them to be out of town, so they were close enough to make it to vote.

[MethuenProgressive]

46. You cut your quote off:

"We hope tonight will bring more clearness on the issue. But right now, I think it is fair to say there will be no votes tonight."

Yup, no more votes tonight. See you in the morning!

[Clintonista2]

50. well, that seemed important

I wonder why the poster didn't bother to include the end of that quote? :eyes:

[CyberPieHole]

30. Yeah, we can't expect U.S. Senators to VOTE on legislation.

It would be asking too much. They have more important things to do. Besides, it's Clinton's fault.:eyes:

[MethuenProgressive]

35. Miss naming a Post Office, sure - but miss a vote that could "Mean War With Iran"?

With more experience, perhaps Obama will learn that some votes are worth showing up for.

[maximusveritas]

40. I heard the same idiotic stuff from Bush supporters in 2004

It's still idiotic.

[BeyondGeography]

28. Two senior Democratic aides who won't go on the record but want to undermine Obama said...

:boring:

[Capn Sunshine]

44. Gotta wonder which is worse

Missing votes OR VOTING WITH THE REPUBLICANS.

[Clintonista2]

60. Who voted with the republicans?

76/98 senators voted YEA. Assuming every Republican voted YEA, that would mean that a majority of Democrats voted yes (out of 50 dems, 26 of them voted yes).

[tammywammy]

43. According to the transcript

the night before they said they weren't voting on K/L anytime soon.

[Lord Helmet]

45. Dodd and Biden's records are worse.

Hillary's isn't so good either so this is just selective criticism of Obama.

[flpoljunkie]

49. "Unnamed Senate Democratic" aides. Read what Reid said in the Senate transcript.

This is what Reid said the night before the bill. Obama was sandbagged. And, Biden and Dodd have missed more votes this year than Obama.

Mr. REID. Mr. Chairman, there will be no more votes tonight. We have tried to work something out on the Kyl-Lieberman amendment and the Biden amendment. We have been unable to do that.

We have been very close a few times, but we have just been informed that Senator Biden will not have a vote anytime in the near future. There will not be a vote on the other one anytime in the near future. We hope tonight will bring more clearness on the issue.”

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r110:S25SE7-0035Z (temporary link)

[MethuenProgressive]

51. It was a conspiracy against Obama??? "Obama was sandbagged."???

Right, all 98 Senators kept the mid-day vote a secret from everyone who knew how to contact Obama!!
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:


edit: the usual

[flpoljunkie]

53. Harry Reid's son works for Hillary in Nevada. Read Senate transcript and draw your own conclusion.

[MethuenProgressive]

54. "But right now, I think it is fair to say there will be no votes tonight."

That's from the transcript.

And so 98 senators voted at mid day the next day.

They weren't "sandbagged"...

[Clintonista2]

58. Keep in mind...

It's impossible for Obama to do wrong. You seem to keep forgetting that. Everything negative about Obama is a conspiracy against him, why can't you get that through your head? :rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Buzz Clik]

70. Here's the info for the top vote missers in the Senate:

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/senate/vote-missers/

[Sparkly]

73. Uh oh

Despite Obama and Kyl-Lieberman, this is something Biden and Dodd might not want to bring up... :wow:

[Lucinda]

75. Thats actually changed in the past couple months

The last time I looked at the data, they had better percentages than Ombana. I guess it's a fluid thing.

[Sparkly]

76. Oh!

Nevermind. :shrug:

[Lucinda]

78. No you're right! If they are calling him out NOW

they don't have a leg to stand on. :)

[Lucinda]

77. Thanks! That much better than looking one by one.

:D

[JTFrog]

71. Again,

you are saying that the senators were all advised the night before when Mr. Reid himself said the following the next morning:

(Item 4) SCHEDULE -- (Senate - September 26, 2007)

GPO's PDF

---

Mr. REID. Mr. President, this morning the Senate will conduct morning business, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two sides, with the majority controlling the first half hour.

We are working hard to come up with an agreement on how we can dispose of the Biden and Kyl amendments. We were very close to being there several times yesterday, but we are still not there. Once we reach an agreement, Members will be notified of when the votes will occur.

The Senate has received, it is my understanding, the children's health legislation. We are going to begin the process of getting to a point where this matter will be considered and disposed of in the Senate and sent to the President.

Other matters which need to be considered this week are a continuing resolution and debt limit. I have been in contact with my distinguished colleague, the senior Senator from Kentucky, to see how we are going to work our way through this. Members will be apprised of schedule issues throughout the day.

I understand things aren't always the way they look, but I feel the Senate record is more credible than what some unidentified aides may have said.

[SaveElmer]

74. Phone call that could have occurred had Obama wanted it too...

Rrrrring

Reid: Hello

Obama: Harry...Barack...I hear there may be a vote today on Kyl-Lieberman, this issue is very important to me, could you hold it up for three or four hours till I can get down there?

Reid: Sure Barack...no problem...

Barack: Thanks, bye.

Reid: Goodbye!

Click!

[Lucinda]

79. Wasn't one of the first reasons given for the K/L no show was that he had the flu?

It's all running together in a big blob for me right now. He didn't know, and he had the flu, but he showed up for the debate, and was campaigning anyway...?

Or something like that?

[SaveElmer]

80. Not sure which excuse is the correct one...I suspect none of them...

I think he avoided it on purpose until he could see which way the wind was blowing...

[Lucinda]

81. Seems about right to me

[Clintonista2]

82. Yup, I remember that was the first excuse given

Then it slowly shifted to "Harry Reid rescheduled the vote at the last minute", and now it's become "Harry reids son works for Hillary Clinton, so it was a conspiracy not to tell Obama to make him look bad."

[illinoisprogressive]

83. McCain missed the most and Obama is actually in the middle

besides, the people of ILLINOIS know he is running for president.
If you want to talk about K-L vote, ask Harry Reid!

[illinoisprogressive]

84. Worried about why Obama missed the vote on K-L? Ask Harry Reid.

[zulchzulu]

85. Link shows whole year: Biden then Dodd then Obama...

Link had this:
Obama's campaign points out that Biden missed the most votes if the whole year is considered, followed by Dodd, then Obama.

The Illinois Democrat has missed nearly 80 percent of all votes since September. The other Democrats in the Senate running for president have missed a high percentage of votes as well. Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware has missed 68 percent of the votes during the same period, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut 65 percent and Clinton of New York 63 percent.

[nolabels]

86. Shouldn't it be "The Voting Record of the Horrid Senate"

I know, i know, why quibble over the details :shrug:

[hedgehog]

87. A gentle reminder

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0406230365jun23,1,1064406.story?coll=chi-news-hed



"It's so hard to run for president from the Senate that the last person to do so successfully was Sen. John F. Kennedy in 1960. One problem is that senators cast thousands of votes on complex pieces of legislation.



"If you look at the 10,000 votes he has cast, it's easy to criticize him as this president has for changing positions," said James Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University. "You have to vote yes or no on a whole lot of things."

McCain hurt in 2000

That hurt Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) when he ran for the GOP nomination in 2000 against Texas Gov. George W. Bush.


"You can make someone out as a vegetarian, a communist or a fascist," McCain said. "I was portrayed as opposing breast cancer research."