For those who care, neither the Democratic leaders nor any other Democrat there has or will complain about this. It's not because they don't care, it's because they know that if there was any chance that Kerry's or Edward's vote would have helped Daschle would have called them and they would have come to vote.
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"Kerry spokeswoman Kelley Benander said the campaign is in constant communication with the Democratic leadership. "John Kerry has committed to Senator (Tom) Daschle, that he will be there for any close vote. The unfortunate reality is that when you are running for president you are going to miss votes."
"Anytime the presidential candidates have been needed, they have been there," said Ranit Schmelzer, spokeswoman for Democratic Minority Leader Daschle, D-S.D. "It's worked out so far; we expect it will continue to work."
Kerry has also shuffled his schedule for votes. When the Senate was debating a bill to ban late-term abortions in mid-March, he made a quick detour to Washington between campaign stops in Boston and New York to vote to support a woman's right to have an abortion. It was a nonbinding resolution, but Daschle asked all four candidates to be there, and it passed 52-46. But Kerry and Edwards missed the final vote on the abortion ban, which passed 64-33. Both have voted against the ban in the past.
So far, missing votes hasn't created a political storm for any of the candidates and it may be a non-issue, according to political analyst Stuart Rothenberg.
"The line of attack on missing votes is pretty obvious: `They're not doing their job now, why should they get a promotion,'" said Rothenberg. "But I think voters understand it's hard to hold a job and run for a job."
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=16&num=2116____________________________________________________________________
This is the type of spin that I expect from the other side. Anyone who knows a wit about Congress knows they have reliable vote counters on both sides. Members often will stand down or vote to effect a strategic block of the other side while allowing votes like Dole's to go through. You can bet that the republicans had more than enough votes to twist the agenda their way.
If they would have made a difference then they would be there. This attack is designed for novices to the legislative process. I shouldn't expect fair analysis of that process here I guess. To suggest that Kerry or Edwards shirked their duty by missing votes in a presidential election is opportunistic slander. But don't let me stop you.