"Lets really look at the experience comparison:
Obama:
B.A in political science from Columbia University, with a specialization in international relations
J.D. in Law from Hardvard, graduated magna cum laude; President of the Harvard Law Review
12 years (92-04) teaching constitutional law
7 years State Senator: sponsored more than 800 bills
4 years Senator for Illinos, a state with 12.8 million people
Palin:
Bachelor's in journalism from University of Idaho
4 years Wasilla City Council (8000 people)
6 years Wasilla mayor (8000 people)
1 year "Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission"
20 months governor of a state with 660,000 people
Do the Republicans really think we're so stupid that we would believe Palin is more experienced than Obama? Give me a break…" -commenter on CNN.com about Sarah Palin's remarks in her Republican National Convention speech last night
3 comments:
Those 130 "Presents" on his record don't help his stats though. Have you ever seen a number for how many times he DID vote, to put that 130 in perspective?
From The New York Times:
"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."
"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."
"In other cases, Mr. Obama’s present votes stood out among widespread support as he tried to use them to register legal and other objections to parts of the bills.
In Illinois, political experts say voting present is a relatively common way for lawmakers to express disapproval of a measure."
It's deliberate ignorance of the parlimentary procedure of the Illinois state senate that has kept this talking point alive and nothing more. You can be sure that the people pushing this meme know this but conveniently leave the above information out when they bring it up, first the Clinton people and now McCain's.
It took me five seconds typing on Google to find this information but it's common knowledge that most people won't do even that much research to see if these things are actually true. This is why people still get emails from their Grandmas saying that he's a secret Muslim. Never underestimate the ignorance and laziness of the American voter.
I honestly tried Googling for about 3-4 minutes and couldn't find it. Must not have used the rights key words.
Weren't the 130 votes in the US Senate though? I'm glad to see his work in Illinois, I just wonder what kind of voting he did when he got to the US gov't. I believe he did, I've just not seen much about it.
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