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Thursday, December 20, 2007

I Guess This is One Way to Transcend Polarized Politics…

posted by on December 20 at 9:22 AM

The New York Times takes a look at Obama’s no-votes in the Illinois legislature:

In 1999, Barack Obama was faced with a difficult vote in the Illinois legislature — to support a bill that would let some juveniles be tried as adults, a position that risked drawing fire from African-Americans, or to oppose it, possibly undermining his image as a tough-on-crime moderate.

In the end, Mr. Obama chose neither to vote for nor against the bill. He voted “present,” effectively sidestepping the issue, an option he invoked nearly 130 times as a state senator.

Sometimes the “present’ votes were in line with instructions from Democratic leaders or because he objected to provisions in bills that he might otherwise support. At other times, Mr. Obama voted present on questions that had overwhelming bipartisan support. In at least a few cases, the issue was politically sensitive.

The record has become an issue on the presidential campaign trail, as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, his chief rival for the Democratic nomination, has seized on the present votes he cast on a series of anti-abortion bills to portray Mr. Obama as a “talker” rather than a “doer.”

Although a present vote is not unusual in Illinois, Mr. Obama’s use of it is being raised as he tries to distinguish himself as a leader who will take on the tough issues, even if it means telling people the “hard truths” they do not want to hear.

RSS icon Comments

1

Ugghh... Obama was almost going to get a check from me this month; guess not now.

I am still trying to think of him as better than Hillary. But I think I will vote Green instead.

Posted by Just Me | December 20, 2007 9:33 AM
2

so the point is: he's a politician?

hildog, people who live in glass houses...

Posted by max solomon | December 20, 2007 9:34 AM
3

I can see a governor or a mayor attacking a legislator this way, but what good is it going to do for a Senator to go after another Senator for legislative twisting? What choice do you have when faced with bills that both feed babies and kill puppies? Get nailed for voting against babies or get nailed for voting against puppies?

Posted by elenchos | December 20, 2007 9:34 AM
4

read the whole article before you get all upset. Josh is a Hill supporter.

Posted by poster Girl | December 20, 2007 9:41 AM
5

Josh, Paul Krugman just called for you. He'd like his meme back.

Posted by Trey | December 20, 2007 9:44 AM
6

I agree with poster Girl @4. If you read the entire article, the present votes are put into context. A context that makes Obama look like the shrewd, intelligent person he is.

Posted by Adam | December 20, 2007 9:50 AM
7

so he voted present. you expect different actions from different people. when you are young you want to protest and fight the power... but you might make a mistake if you skipped out on higher education, which could be used to support the causes you believe in later.

you have to work your way up. you can demonstrate that you have leadership potential before you are an actual leader. but you shouldn't be judged as a leader before you really had the power.

Posted by infrequent | December 20, 2007 10:35 AM
8

It's amusing that Josh would have had a freak fit if he hadn't even voted ...

Look, Josh, we know you want to work in the MSM, but propping up Clinton and Guiliani won't get you that MSM job, even if that's what they do.

Posted by Will in Seattle | December 20, 2007 12:09 PM
9

Is there some way to identify Will's posts before I waste time reading them?

Posted by dear god | December 20, 2007 2:59 PM
10

Read the update, people, posted more recently. Or - SLOG could post the update here! On this post!

Posted by Phoebe | December 20, 2007 7:56 PM

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