>>>Well, there is the fact that he likes to vote PRESENT. What the heck is that? He might as well vote RADIO, PLASTIC, RED er I mean BLUE..
>>>
>>>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/us/politics/20obama.html
>>
>>Did you at least skim the article? He voted "present" 130 times out of around 4000 votes. That's about 3%.
>>
>>It also raises a good question. What should a legislator do when presented with a bill he mostly approves of, but which contains some objectionable provisions? Hold his nose and vote "yes"? Vote "no" even though he mostly approves of it?
>>
>>This is clearly an issue many legislators face. And, in the current political climate, whatever choice they make, they'll get blasted for it. Remember "I voted for it before I voted against it" (or the other way 'round)--it was the same kind of problem. A bill that was mostly okay, but contained something objectionable.
>>
>>FWIW, one of things I like about Obama is that he assumes that Americans can actually understand nuance and want to hear more than sound bites.
>>
>>Tamar
>
>Voting present is just dishonest. He shouls take a stand. I thought we elected representatives to go to Washington and vote for us, not to announce to the world that they were "present"? It is probably a good thing he didn't vote, because something tells me he would not have voted the "right" way!<g>

John, you're missing the point. What if you're presented with a bill on which there is no "right way" to vote? A bill that has good points and bad points?

Also, as I noted, we're talking about 3% of his votes, not something he did every day.

Tamar