Being a senator not a ‘high priority’ for McCain.
John McCain (R-AZ) has already missed 57 percent of the Senate votes this session. Today, The Hill reports that McCain will likely continue to “steer far away from his day job in the United States Senate” in order to avoid “politically sensitive votes.” Campaign adviser Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) confirmed that voting in the Senate isn’t “a high priority” for McCain.
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Citizens of Arizona will be proud of their Senator’s consideration for them.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:38 amThis gives his McTime to spend with his McFamily.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:40 amWe know this St. J. Your main job is to satisfy the people that purchase you daily. Isn’t prostitution illegal in AZ?
March 6th, 2008 at 10:41 amMcCain is living the Republican Dream: Get paid for doing next to nothing.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:41 amah so, he has no interest in doing the job he supposed to do in the Senate for his constituents, he wants to be McBush.
Makes perfect sense now.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:41 amgee!
i wonder what my boss’ reaction would be if i were to tell him “working for this organization is not a high priority for me”?
fu(king arsehole!
March 6th, 2008 at 10:41 amDoe she still get a paycheck? If he’s still getting paid, then he should keep up with his day job.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:42 amWell, if that’s the case, then he needs to quit right now and allow Arizona to hold a special election to fill his seat. At the very least he needs to stop collecting a pay check.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:43 amCampaign adviser Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) confirmed that voting in the Senate isn’t “a high priority†for McCain.
Why should it be? It’s not like it’s really important or anything.
Besides, the Deciderer deciderates everything anyway. Can’t the Senate rubberstamp signing statements without St. John?
Ralph Hussein Wonder Llama
March 6th, 2008 at 10:43 amActually, I know why he is doing this. He doesn’t want to have another vote like his vote on torture to become a campaign advertisement. So he will just skip all the votes until the election. I think that the Democrats need to hit hard on this.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:44 amCampain’n is hard work!
March 6th, 2008 at 10:46 amI’m getting up there in age, & just can’t manage to do more than one thing at a time. Right now, my thing is to fool voters into thinking I’m any different than that black man & white woman.
-George Bush III
This should be used as one yardstick of McCain’s political courage and of the “quality” of his “straight talk.” All three Senator candidates for the presdency should be judged, in part, in view of their political courage to vote or not on controversial bills.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:46 amInbred Floridian’s must not read the entire article which they choose to espouse:
March 6th, 2008 at 10:49 amWhere will McAbsent buy land for his ranch?
March 6th, 2008 at 10:50 amObama making less than a quarter of Senate votes.
http://www.cnn.com/ 2007/ POLITICS/ 11/ 02/ obama.missed.votes/ index.html
Good Rebecca Gollyberg
Comment by good_golly
As usual, goon_golly’s comprehension and reading skills are tripping it up again. Here is what he missed:
I am willing to bet that John McCain voted less than 20% of the time since September.
A message to our resident troll. Your points are only valid if you compare apples to apples.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:50 amActually bilbo, her big fat, hypocritical points would hold more water if she cared to read the entire article, and not just post headlines.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:52 amBrownback is as dumb as a bag of hair.
~Hussein Zooey
March 6th, 2008 at 10:57 amCase in point. From the fat hypocrite from Florida’s above post:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/ congress/ 110/ senate/ vote-missers/
In the same time period, Barack missed 40% while McCain missed 56%.
EAT ME B*TCH.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:58 amGOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!
March 6th, 2008 at 10:58 amHey, its wrong on BOTH sides!
They are paid to represent their constituents with their votes. Its a shame the process of running for president consumes so much of their time. There should be a way of voting by proxy, or remote voting.
The real issue is that they don’t want to be scrutinized during a campaign, forcing votes on sensitive issues. BOTH the DNC and RNC are reported to want to introduce “poisened” bills that will be designed to embarass the other side.
I say BOTH Obama and McCain should hve the balls to stand up and vote on EVERYTHING - its their job! Blaming McCain for something that Obama is just as guilty of is unacceptable. Both should stand up and be counted!
March 6th, 2008 at 10:59 amActually bilbo, her big fat, hypocritical points would hold more water if she cared to read the entire article, and not just post headlines.
Comment by DieNowForPeace — March 6, 2008 @ 10:52 am
goon_golly only reads the headlines except when selectively quoting in the hope that no one will bother to check on the link.
As noted before, goon_golly is really bad at being a Republican apologist.
–gumhusseinmitch
March 6th, 2008 at 10:59 amWhen is goon gone gonna go enlist her son to fight her “war on terrrrr”?
HYPOCRITE B*TCH.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:00 amMcCain should just go directly to doing viagra commercials. Blondes have more fun when he takes it.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:00 amWell, McSame saw how many vacation days Bush has taken and would like to do the same, paid healthcare, 450+ days of vacation, you don’t have to even know how to speak well, you can fail at everything you do, commit crimes and not have anything done about it, have all kinds of cronies around to keep people from finding out the crimes you commit, murder a million people, ruin the economy, destroy the constitution.
Real sweet life if you ask me.
Bush/Cheney
March 6th, 2008 at 11:01 amHague Trials ‘09
Brownback is a bag of hair.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:03 amJudging by his excessive vacation time, being a President isn’t a “high priority” for George Bush.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:03 amFact Injection: Barack Hussein Obama is #3 in missed votes, with a bit over 40% of votes missed. The only two Senators with a higher missed-vote total are John McCain and Tim Johnson. The other top missers are all candidates:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/ congress/ 110/ senate/ vote-missers/
- Hussein Toasterhead
March 6th, 2008 at 11:05 amMcCain conducts the government’s business, not by voting, but by special favors…..see Keating Five and his other various favors for lobbyists.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:05 amAnd Grandpa John has other worries (article by Steve Benen):
It hasn’t really drawn too much interest in the campaign, at least not yet, but McCain, at age 72, would be the oldest president ever elected. Americans don’t seem to love the idea. For example, poll respondents were told that Hillary Clinton would be the first female president. 20% said that makes them more enthusiastic about her candidacy, while 11% said less. They were told that Barack Obama would be the first African-American president. 16% said that makes them more enthusiastic about his candidacy, while 11% said less. And when told about McCain’s age, 4% said that makes them more enthusiastic about his candidacy, while 27% said less.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:06 amTP — an item like this one only has value if you compare McCain’s voting record with that of Clinton and Obama up front.
All three are sitting senators.
All three are running for president.
All three can be expected to spend less time in the senate because of campaign demands.
Since many won’t bother to click on the link — here are the numbers:
McCain — 56.8% missed votes
Obama — 40.3% missed votes
Clinton — 28.9% missed votes
The other point in your item — Brownback saying that voting in the senate isn’t a high priority for McCain — is newsworthy in that while it’s true, it’s a bit surprising that Brownback would be honest enough to say so (but refreshing, actually).
I am not all that worried about missed votes, since all three candidates will be similarly handicapped in this department. What will matter to me is WHICH votes are missed — and why. When the vote is close on a critical issue, I expect the candidates to come to DC and cast their votes. If they don’t, or if any candidate uses the campaign as an excuse to avoid taking a position on a critical issue when the other candidates come through, this WILL matter.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:08 amI can think of a cajillion reasons to hate McCain, but this is not one of them. A non-vote is a no vote, and that is all the Republicans are casting these days. The fact that any of them attend sessions in Washington is just a huge waste of fossil fuel. Send them all home! Forever!!! But don’t criticize them for failing to make symbolic jestures.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:10 amOff topic — I would like remind neo-nuts, the obsessive Hillary haters, that your tactic of exploiting loopholes in the voting system — by voting for hillary only to vote against her in hopes of giving McCain a better shot — would probably backfire because there’s a 90% chance of Clinton naming Barack as her running mate if she wins the nomination. That would redraw young voters and those who prefer Obama over Clinton (like me).
But nevermind me, keep drinking the kool-aid Laura Ingraham stirs fresh daily.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:11 amMcCain’s age will play a factor in his selection of running mate. Americans will want someone of near equal stature as McCain, should he succumb to illness or old age-related infirmity. Reagan had an equal in George Bush 1, but who now could the repubs get? Colin Powell’s out, as is anyone related to the current administration. Tom Ridge is out, because of his support for reproductive rights. Jeb Bush? Don’t make me laugh. Hucka bee? He’d get killed by independents. Who?
March 6th, 2008 at 11:15 amWho?
Comment by barfly — March 6, 2008 @ 11:15 am
Jeebus is out cause he’s not a Republican….how about that whining guy from New England that changed parties?
March 6th, 2008 at 11:17 am…because there’s a 90% chance of Clinton naming Barack as her running mate…
Comment by McWars
My thoughts exactly !!
Clinton / Obama / Clark ‘08
A∞Ω
March 6th, 2008 at 11:21 amRealistically, this is very common. I know its fun to bash McCain.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:21 amWhere is his decency. and self-confidence. A decent US Senator would resign given his new position as Rethug candidate. Doesn’t he think he will win. And is winning the only issue. A US Senator has a job he is getting paid for. Do the job or resign.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:24 amComment by good_golly — March 6, 2008 @ 10:44 am
So Gigi not only tried comparing apples to oranges (Senate votes “this session” vs. Senate votes “in the last two monts”) in order to try to leave the impression that Obama was worse than Grandpa McCain, she also used an article from last year.
Gigi must be having an off day.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:27 amWith Sam Brownback as his campaign advisor he’s bound to go far.
Far, far away after his trouncing in November. Hope he remembers where his seat in the Senate is. Or Mayhaps not…
March 6th, 2008 at 11:31 am“how about that whining guy from New England that changed parties?”
Comment by jb
Uncle Joe?
He could set a new record: losing the vice presidency twice!
March 6th, 2008 at 11:33 amOoops, that should have been signed
RHUsseinCerious
March 6th, 2008 at 11:34 amSeems to me that if one is currently holding public office, one should not be able to campaign for another office. Running for office is a very time consuming activity.
Don’t you think that the candidates would be able to perform more efficiently on the campaign trail if they didn’t have to worry about votes and stuff - and vice-versa?
UhClem Hussein Clone
March 6th, 2008 at 11:36 amHey, I’d be happy if all the Republicans quit showing up for work and voting.
Works for me.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:39 amThat’s the ticket…..Grampa McCain and Uncle Joe….give’m banjos so they wouldn’t have to sing.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:40 amThey are paid to represent their constituents with their votes. Its a shame the process of running for president consumes so much of their time. There should be a way of voting by proxy, or remote voting.
I agree. I also think that they need to go back to Washington to vote on the bills that truly matter. Many bills are not close and are not of great significance. But bills like budgeting money for the Iraq occupation or bills that take away our rights, those definitely need to be voted on.
I find it interesting that the McCain representative admitted that McBush won’t vote on certain things because they are “politically sensitive” which means those votes would show him to be the panderer that he truly is.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:46 amGigi must be having an off day.
Comment by ralph the wonder llama
Every day is an off day for this odious troll.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:47 amRealistically, this is very common. I know its fun to bash McCain.
Comment by ForTruth — March 6, 2008 @ 11:21 am
True and he has certainly done a lot worse. McCain is not so much lazy as he is misguided.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:49 amIf they don’t, or if any candidate uses the campaign as an excuse to avoid taking a position on a critical issue when the other candidates come through, this WILL matter.
Comment by missmolly
It also matters, missmolly, that he has missed 57% of the votes since January, 2007. That is a horrible record. As a matter of fact, it is the worst record in the entire Senate. His is even worse than Tim Johnson’s and he was out because he almost died.
I hope that the Democrats make this a real issue in the campaign. If he has missed that many days in the Senate, one would expect he will be a president like Bush who has been on vacation for more than a year out of his 7 years in office.
How many of you would still have a job if you missed 57% of your working days?
March 6th, 2008 at 11:54 amW’alllllll, no chit, Cherlock.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:27 pmGigi must be having an off day.
Comment by ralph the wonder llama — March 6, 2008 @ 11:27 am
Her butler screwed up her morning Triple Mocha Latte….there was too much foam.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:31 pmSo you’re telling me that the good Senator actively campaigned for a job, accepted the job, got sworn into the job, and is getting paid for the job. The job of Senator is a cornerstone (in a 3-part system) of our democratic process.
But he isn’t doing the job and doesn’t see the job as important.
1) Of course, Shrub has taken how many days of vacation- doesn’t sound like Prez is all that important either. And from his record in the Senate, looks like McCain is working to beat Shrub’s vacation record.
2) With the large powergrab of the executive branch moving congress into a far less powerful position, perhaps Senator isn’t that important to a repub ? Anyone can be a yes man.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:31 pm319
Number of days left of this complete and utter failure of an administration.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:32 pmMcCain is just prepping himself for delivering on his campaign promise of a third Bush term.
After all, he’d have to vacation for at least 57% of those four years too, wouldn’t he? Isn’t that the type of “leadership” precedent that Chimpy has established?
March 6th, 2008 at 12:46 pm#29, Toasterhead: At least Tim Johnson had an excuse for missing his votes: he had a brain hemmorhage.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:49 pmHow can be? McCain is from the party of personnal responsability!
March 6th, 2008 at 1:23 pm.
I see McCampaign is following suit with the Clinton/Obama camp.
.
March 6th, 2008 at 1:46 pmMcStain will be a worse president than Bush. Hard to believe, but true. He is extraordinarily lazy, and beholden to lobbyists of all stripes. he has no idea of foreign policy, and will gladly hand the reigns over to the PNAC monsters, as Bush did. No democrat alive could wreak the havoc McCain is sure to.
March 6th, 2008 at 1:54 pmComment by Lefty Patriot — March 6, 2008 @ 1:54 pm
Add to the havoc the probable demise by natural death in mid term of a such an old character.
March 6th, 2008 at 2:04 pmyou’re right jackball — we wouldn’t want to do anything to preserve the constitution, would we?
sieg heil, bro.
March 6th, 2008 at 2:37 pm60 - Excuse me, but *3* liberals…?
If you’re including McClone in that count, you’ve either got to be a true fascist or a complete retard.
You pick.
~Hussein Annie
March 6th, 2008 at 2:51 pm“3 Liberals”?
None of them are liberal.
March 6th, 2008 at 2:54 pmWell, perhaps, we can replace him the next time around… I think that the next time he is up for re-election is 2010. If he isn’t that interested in being Arizona’s senator anymore, maybe Janet Napolitano will be ready to run against him then. That way, he can be a 2 time loser at the end of his political career.
March 6th, 2008 at 8:26 pm