Obama/Biden 2008

"The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away."

Ronald Reagan

 

That looks impressive until you realize Obama had only 173 actual days (yes, days) in the Senate before he announced he was running for President.

 

Aren't all senators on some committee/subcommittee or other? I find it hard to believe that there are senators out there that aren't on any. Given the nature of seniority, it is no surprise that Obama isn't the chair of any committee yet.

It's also interesting looking at the # of votes missed by both Obama and McCain over the past few years. Obama seemed to be really on the job the first couple of years of his term, but then increasingly missed votes. McCain is more of a zigzag throughout the past few years, up one quarter and down the next.

One note about co-sponsorship of a bill - your name can be on it even if you only changed a few words or a sentence. It doesn't necessarily imply that you were a key stakeholder in writing the bill. Some bills have MANY co-sponsors, especially "feel good" bills. Bills with few to no co-sponsors are related to something state- or region-specific (for state issues there'll probably be one co-sponsor, the other senator )

Also, many bills are pretty unremarkable, and the Senate will vote unanimously (or mostly unanimously) in favor of them, especially if they are simple amendments. This is one of the misleading items to consider when Obama says that McCain "voted 90% of the time with Bush". In these cases I'm sure that Obama probably voted at least 40-50% "with Bush". In the case of McCain, it's the 10% that are probably worth exploring the most to see if they are substantive to his argument of having different policies.

An example - S.597
Title: A bill to amend title 39, United States Code, to extend the authority of the United States Postal Service to issue a semipostal to raise funds for breast cancer research.

Dianne Feinstein was the sponsor, and there were 99 (!) co-sponsors, including Barbara Boxer, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain, and of course, every other Senator since the total adds up to 100. Does this mean that Barbara Boxer voted "with Bush" for S.597? Or that Bush "voted" with Feinstein? Since Bush doesn't "vote" I'm not sure what this all means anyway but I suppose it refers to a Republican party line. In that case McCain on average is generally considered to be a mainstream Republican while Obama is wholly a mainstream Democrat in looking at their voting records.

The thomas.loc.gov site is interesting. I did an advanced search to see how many bills Obama sponsored in the 110th Congress that became public law (i.e. didn't get stuck somewhere in committee, etc). This to me is the acid test, showing how our senators are able to truly "get things done" based upon their passion and interest. As noted before, anyone can stick in their name as a co-sponsor, so being the main sponsor and getting it enacted into law is a good test.

Answer for the 110th Congress - zero.

In the 109th Congress, there was one, introduced 12/16/2005:

S.2125 Title: A bill to promote relief, security, and democracy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is the one that Obama deriders hang their hat on for a variety of reasons, some based upon priorities, some based on racial issues. I don't know the nature of the legislation so I can't comment on it. It doesn't seem to benefit IL voters though, so if I were based there I might be upset that he hasn't done anything more specific while representing me. It does perhaps show that he has a "bigger picture" view of the world.

I'd argue that being in the minority party in the 109th Congress would be tough to get laws passed, but how about the 110th? I would have thought that if Obama knew he was running for President he would have tried a little harder to have something to "hang his hat on" and show his leadership. This is where he falls short against McCain, who in his career has passed some noted legislation.

To be fair, I did the same for McCain:

Answer for the 110th Congress - zero. Looks like both were too busy campaigning to get any real work done!

In the 109th there were four:

1. [109th] S.161 : A bill to provide for a land exchange in the State of Arizona between the Secretary of Agriculture and Yavapai Ranch Limited Partnership.

2. [109th] S.1481 : A bill to amend the Indian Land Consolidation Act to provide for probate reform.

3. [109th] S.1892 : A bill to amend Public Law 107-153 to modify a certain date.

4. [109th] S.2464 : A bill to revise a provision relating to a repayment obligation of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation under the Fort McDowell Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 1990, and for other purposes.

It looks as though McCain's bills were focused strictly on Arizona, which I suppose is somewhat expected. I had to go back to earlier Congresses to see some results like McCain-Feingold campaign reform, etc.

Hillary at least DID get a public law passed in the 110th Congress - '...designate a portion of United States Route 20A, located in Orchard Park, New York, as the "Timothy J. Russert Highway"'. Nice to see this Buffalonian was recognized in some way. RIP Tim Russert.

 

Should obama have picked sebelius as the democratic vice presidential candidate?

"She was first elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1986. In 1994 she left the House to run for state insurance commissioner and stunned political forecasters by winning — the first time a Democrat had won in more than 100 years."

She is currently the governor of Kansas, having served in an executive position much longer than palin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Sebelius

 

And Powell is? EDIT: Oh! Do you mean Colin?

 

Now let's hope this one has the good sense not to be caught engaging in any monkey business with his interns.

 

Yes, and while I realize Powell is/was a republican I still contend that an Obama-Powell ticket would have really been a powerful combination. Powell is well-respected by members of both parties and from all accounts a damn fine general as well.

If the Hillary Clinton supporters are prepared to vote McCain-Palin, those supporters are shooting themselves in the foot. Face facts... Hillary Clinton is no William Jefferson Clinton, just as George Walker Bush is no George Herbert Walker Bush, and is a divisive political figure whom the republicans would have loved to take on in the general election. If anything the Bush dynasty proves only one family member should ever be allowed to run for president. Before you get the wrong idea, I was never a Bush fan.

Oh, right! I have an election in my own country coming up next month. Yawn! Your elections provide entertainment while our elections are a cure for insomnia.

 

I think Michelle would not be quite as forgiving as Hillary.

 

Agreed. He should have chosen Hillary Clinton. Just my own opinion.

 

Barack Hussein Obama II is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2008 general election. Obama is the first African American to be nominated by a major political party for president.
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Spam alart

 

I’ve been down on Biden since he was exposed as a plagiarist in ‘88. Not only did he lift another politician’s speech, but it was revealed that he was found guilty of plagiarism in school. Now that he’s on the ticket, watch out! I can see the Republicans trying to link his plagiarism to the speeches Obama lifted earlier this year from Deval Patrick and I believe someone else.
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Not likely. The incident regarding Biden is old, and it didn't reveal any real bad intent. And the Obama/Patrick situation was shown to be no big deal, either, with both men being guided by the same political consultant and known to be friends.

Both incidents were technically plagiarism, but were nothing, practically. And old news.

 

I like him. I can remember being in New Orleans for halloween when he was running for governor. Could have sworn i saw him walking down Bourbon street arm in arm with a drag queen....

 

I will believe the whole Paris thing when he crawls out of a limo and shows every one his tootsie roll

 

Ha ha!

Abner

 

If that makes him happy, so be it.

 

I have no idea if it was him or not and could really care less, i just thought it was fascinating if it was really him.

 

I don't care if he was with a drag queen. As long as he is an effective governor, that is what matters. Yes it would be fascinating. If he was jindal, I hope no one took photos.