What Voting "Present" Means to Obama (in his own words)VANITY

Chicago Reader ^ | March 17 2000 | Ted Kleine

[Velveeta]

In the midst of an old article on Obama, here's what voting "present" means to Obama in his own words:

The "present" votes, Obama speculates, were cast by Republicans "who were embarrassed, who knew this was something they should be voting," but didn't want to defy party leaders.

[Velveeta]

I guess if you vote "present" you're embarrassed and don't want to defy those party leaders, right Obama???

How many times did Obama vote "present" in the Illinois Senate? Almost 130 times.

[The Lumster]

Obama voted present in the Ill. Senate because he knew it was only a pit stop on his way to the top and when he got there he didn’t want to be tied to an unpopular decision from his past.

He is unable to make a firm decision. This was apparent in is appearance at Saddleback where he danced around every issue and could not give a definitive answer to any. This is why he is unqualified to be Commander in Chief

[aeonspromise]

As they say in Cali..remember whereever you are, you’re there..present..

[kidd]

“Presidet Obama, the Russians have invaded the Ukraine! What should we do?”

“Present”

[Velveeta]

That’s all very true, but Obama has stated in the past that voting ‘present’ was something that was commonly done in the IL Senate. Well, it’s not commonly done and his own words once again show him to be nothing but a liar.

[Velveeta]

Exactly. Or President Obama, there’s been a terrorist attack in New York - what do we do?

“Present”

[101voodoo]

Rich Miller, the publisher of Capitol Fax, a "...Springfield "newsletter, says Obama hasn't compiled much of a legislative record, partly because he's turned off other senators.

"Barack is a very intelligent man," Miller said. "He hasn't had a lot of success here, and it could be because he places himself above everybody. He likes people to know he went to Harvard."

Pass the Arugula please.

[danboski]

Does anyone know what percentage of his vote he voted present on? I thought I heard somewhere that he voted present something like 40% of his votes, but I can't seem to confirm it.

I'm going to be mixing it up with some of my liberal friends and just trying to gather some facts. Speaking facts, here's how yahoo news stated it ( http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_palin_88 )

Palin was referring to Obama's days in the Illinois Senate, when he voted "present" dozens of times among the thousands of votes he cast in his eight years there. The move is common among Illinois lawmakers, but has become a favorite Republican complaint about

I know... why did I even read it.

[Velveeta]

I don’t know about the percentage. This is interesing though:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/o000167/

has alot of information regarding his votes...

I hadn’t realized how many votes he actually “missed” over and above the ‘present’ votes.

[supercat]

I guess if you vote "present" you're embarrassed and don't want to defy those party leaders, right Obama???

Actually, voting Present is a sign of courage, and few politicians are as courageous as Obama. Most of the other politicians hide their presence behind "yes" or "no" votes; only Obama is willing to consistently proclaim it loudly.