Obama's “Present” Votes Rumor - Exposed, page 1

What does voting "Present" mean?
And what do 129 “Present” votes say about Barack Obama?

One criticism of Obama is that he voted “Present” 129 times in his 8 years as a State Senator. Firstly, 129 “Present” votes represent a whopping 3.2% of the over 4,000 total votes he cast, so 96.8% of the time, he voted either Yea or Nay. Sounds like a pretty fantastic record to me…

Mr. Obama’s aides and some allies dispute the characterization that a present vote is tantamount to ducking an issue. They said Mr. Obama cast 4,000 votes in the Illinois Senate and used the present vote to protest bills that he believed had been drafted unconstitutionally or as part of a broader legislative strategy.
…
An examination of Illinois records shows at least 36 times when Mr. Obama was either the only state senator to vote present or was part of a group of six or fewer to vote that way.
In more than 50 votes, he seemed to be acting in concert with other Democrats as part of a strategy.

Source

I’m not sure people know what voting “Present” actually means.

In Illinois (and some other states) there are 3 choices. Yea, Nay and Present. Yea and Nay are self-explanatory. But “Present” can be used to signify that a person supports a bill, but there’s “pork” on it that they object to. Or they may think the bill is a good idea, but they don’t want to vote for the means laid out in the bill. It CAN be used to indicate an indecisive state of mind, but most times, it’s to signal others to be cautious about voting this bill in or to indicate some objection, not strong enough to vote “No”.

What it DOESN’T mean is I’m here, but I don’t have the guts to take a position one way or another. And this is the criticism that Obama’s taking for his record of 129 “Present” votes in 8 years. Sometimes he voted with caution… with reservations.

To insinuate the ‘present’ vote means you’re indecisive, that you don’t have the courage to hold public office, that’s a stretch. But, it’s good politics,” said state Rep. Bill Black (R), a 22-year veteran of the House and his party’s floor leader.
…
The “present” vote in Illinois is sometimes cast by state lawmakers with a conflict of interest who would rather not weigh in on an issue. Other times, members use the option to object to certain parts of a bill, even though they may agree with its overall purpose.

“The ‘present’ vote is used, especially by more thoughtful legislators, not as a means of avoiding taking a position on an issue, but as a means of signaling concerns about an issue,” said state Rep. John Fritchey (D), an Obama supporter.

Source

As regards Senator Obama’s record in the Illinois State Senate, he sponsored 800 bills on Health Care, Poverty, Crime, Civil Rights and more. That’s 100 bills per year that he sponsored. He was HIGHLY active and involved in his 8 years as State Senator.

Source

US Senate voting records:

Since Obama took the US Senate seat in November of 2004, he has voted NV (Not Voting, Excused, Absent or Present) a total of 189 times. During that same time period, John McCain has voted NV 247 times.

McCain's Voting Record: Source

Obama's Voting Record: Source

So, when people criticize Obama for his 129 “Present” votes, be aware that, as with most of these Obama rumors, the facts do not support the allegation that he's somehow deficient or doesn't have the experience to be an impressive and effective leader. When the truth is put out there, the rumor falls flat on its face.

Edit: Title changed for clarity.

[edit on 23-6-2008 by Benevolent Heretic]

reply to post by MurderCityDevil

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Try reading the post.

I have changed the title from: What Does Voting "Present" Mean? to: Obama's "Present" Votes Rumor - Exposed to clarify the purpose of the thread.


[edit on 23-6-2008 by Benevolent Heretic]

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic

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regardless of how one interprets voting "present" (and i agree with BH on this one)

voting "present" is always, 10 times out of 10, 100% of the time, better than not voting at all


Its funny how easy it is to dispell any notion that neocons throw out in the wind.

its like there is a factory somewhere pumping out randomly generated insults towards obama, trying to discredit him....and every single one of them (thus far) either

A.) Has zero credibility
B.) Is easily debunked despite "credibility"
C.) Talks about issues that have nothing to do with being POTUS:
1.) Skin Color
2.) Religion

Isnt it hilarious what people do out of overwhelming, and paralyzing fear?

Obama explains his reasons for abstaining from votes in his book, "The Audacity of Hope." BH has explained this strategy well. Unfortunately, many of his critics won't read his book or this thread.

One thing that Obama might want to consider is the fact that his voting record on his U.S. Senate website shows him not voting a number of times on the first page or so (obama.senate.gov...):

Senate voting record

To see a string of "not voting" decisions right off the bat might put people off a little. Though he has nothing to be ashamed of, it might be politic to reorganize the list.

That said, I'm satisfied with his explanation and to me it's a non-issue.

[edit on 24-6-2008 by Sestias]

reply to post by Andrew E. Wiggin

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The Rules of Propaganda

The bigger the lie, the more people will believe it.
Coined by Joseph Goebbels, this truth has been proven time and time again, especially in times of war.

The rule of orchestration
Endlessly repeating the same messages in different variations and combinations. People will remember the message, the accuracy of the message takes a back seat.

Generalize as much as possible.
Specifics are not very important. Most people would prefer to think in the simplest terms.

The rule of transfusion
Manipulating the consensus values of the target audience for one's own ends.

Stack the cards with "information" Notice the quotation marks
Statistics and facts work wonderfully, especially when the average person only partially understands them, and when conflicting data is omitted or censored.
In modern times this equates to linking to websites and assuming the average internet browser will not examine the source too closely or search for conflicting data.

Confused people are easily led.
When a person hears the truth, he won't know it, because it will be lumped together with disinformation, half-truths, and lies.

Get the "plain folks" onto the "bandwagon"
John Doe is your propaganda agent. Middle Americans will "relate" to him, and so will their friends, and their friends, and their friends, and their friends . ..

* When all else fails, use FEAR. Fear of different religions, race, cultures, and of course terrorism.

Get the propaganda out there. The more sensational the better. Don’t worry about accuracy, the sensationalism and appeal to values or emotion overrides most peoples concern for accuracy or truth and most people aren’t going to research the facts. When the facts are brought to light by anyone move on to another angle of propaganda. The topics should appeal to fear and focus on hot buttons to best succeed in overriding rational debate. This succeeds on many fronts. The headline outlives the follow-up discrediting it and it keeps the discussion focused on irrelevant issues, which is a safe place to be if you a weak on issues that are important to the people.


[edit on 25-6-2008 by maybereal11 for grammar]

[edit on 25-6-2008 by maybereal11 for grammar]

[edit on 25-6-2008 by maybereal11]

reply to post by BlueTriangle

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My God

do you all realize what just happened?

Someone actually gave a real reason why they wont vote for Obama. Why it affects them personally

I disagree wtih you blue triangle, but i respect you for not sligning mud

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