Tony Snow’s Tall Tale: Former Bush Flack Falsely Claims Obama Voted ‘Present’ 160 Times As U.S. Senator
Tony Snow’s Tall Tale: Former Bush Flack Falsely Claims Obama Voted ‘Present’ 160 Times As U.S. Senator
On Dennis Miller’s radio show last Friday, former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow falsely claimed that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has “voted present” 160 times as a member of the United States Senate. “He has cast more present votes in the United States Senate over the last three years than anybody else in the chamber,” claimed Snow.
Miller tried to correct Snow, saying that it was “in the Illinois Senate” that Obama had made a series of “present” votes, but Snow refused to budge, saying, “no, no, in the United States Senate”:
TONY SNOW: What Obama always tries to do, is to do what looks to be respectable and to avoid trouble. So when he’s in the United States Senate, he’s voted present, what 160 times.
DENNIS MILLER: In the Illinois Senate, I believe.
SNOW: No, no. In the United States Senate.
MILLER: Oh, I thought when he was down in the house of Illinois that he voted present.
SNOW: He’s done both. He’s done both. He has cast more present votes in the United States Senate over the last three years than anybody else in the chamber.
Listen here:
Snow’s claim is completely false.
Both Obama’s GovTrack page and his Washington Post Votes Database page show that Obama has never voted “present” as a U.S. senator. When contacted by ThinkProgress, the Obama campaign also confirmed that the senator has never voted “present” in the U.S. Senate.
It is possible that Snow is referring to missed votes rather than “present” votes, but even so, Obama has missed fewer votes during the current Congress than Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who missed 297 votes this Congress. In the previous Congress, Obama missed 11 votes while McCain missed 58.
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72 Responses to “Tony Snow’s Tall Tale: Former Bush Flack Falsely Claims Obama Voted ‘Present’ 160 Times As U.S. Senator”
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So now we know... Snow is just a habitual liar... no wonder he fit in so well in the Bush Administration....
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:22 amsnowjob, stfu. if anyone sees him on the street, smack his ass back into reality.
thx!
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:24 amTony Snow - consummate liar.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:24 amOn Dennis Miller’s radio show
Go no further. Isn't this all we really need to know before making a judgment about what snow job said?
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:24 amHey isn't that a pic of Jim Jones?
RIP
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:25 amSGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 IN (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq
The Obama people will have to do something to discredit the jackass and set the record straight. We all know that the poisonous right wing listeners believe that what their adored liars tell them is fact.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:25 am"Snow’s claim is completely false."
So situation normal then, I guess.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:27 amI doubt very much that the Obama people will want to draw attention to the fact he's missed over a third of the votes in his first year of Senator. Tony Snow must be senile. It would've been a very simple matter to keep the facts straight between voting present and missing votes.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:32 amSnow lied. He needs to apologize. Publicly.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 amAnother pimp for Bush gets face time. Credibility is zero on this guy. But do they stop giving him a chance to spew...noooooooooo!
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:34 amDennis Miller has a radio show?
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:35 amDennis Miller is a lame "comedian" and rabid rightwinger. I remember when the Iraq War started he was boasting how we'd bomb 'em and be out in no time...he was part of that "cakewalk" meme. He actually said his 10 yr old son was good at video games, so even he could go over and polish off Iraq.
I wonder if anyone's ever asked him if he's willing to let President McCain send his son over to the 100-year "cakewalk?"
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:36 amJust more talking points from Cheenney's office.... Most people who listen to this stupidity deserve it...Both are lying - both deserve what they get...
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:37 amPress secretaries seem to suffer from terminal mendacity, especially GOP types. Bill Moyer’s, who unfortunately found a conscious and quit his day job for LBJ, found the only cure. He has worked diligently for years to expiate his sins. How about a clause in their employment contract stating that after the they leave the White House, all press secretaries are required to perform public service equal to the time they spent lying for the administration?
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:38 amCan't this lying sack of sh** just go away quietly?
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:41 amprogressisgood, take another look. McCain missed that many in the current congress, not in the entire 22 years.
McCain's missed over half. Obama's missed over a third. Clinton's missed over a quarter.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:48 amSnow's job is to lie for money...end of story.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:48 amOne of the marvelous things about having the top three candidates for President all be active U.S. Senators is that it's almost impossible to tar somebody else's favorite candidate with their Senate record without getting the icky sticky stuff all over your own candidate.
The American public is smart enough to know that:
1) Clinton, Obama, and McCain are all sitting U.S. Senators.
2) When one runs for President, it takes time away from one's regular job.
3) All three candidates are going to have less than stellar voting records because they are busy campaigning.
4) What matters is the quality of the voting. Is it an important issue? Is it close enough that every vote matters? Most people are not going to expect the candidates to drop what they are doing and rush back to the Capitol to cast their support for a bill giving thanks to the dairy industry. Most will not expect them to rush back to vote on any bill expected to pass 89 - 11. We do expect them to be present to vote on issues important to the public if the vote is expected to be close -- like this one:
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:49 amhttp://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/07/mccain-stimulus-2/
You prove once again that reading comprehension is not your strong suit.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:50 amHe lies like a blanket of snow. Completely covering the truth.
Tony, I don't wish you death and I hope you fully recover from cancer. But to lie for partisan beliefs doesn't do this country any good. And I believe it's frowned upon by our maker.
The only people still listening to the likes of Mr. Miller and Mr. Snow are the ones that so desparetly want to still believe they weren't missled.
I weep for them. But will not allow them to run this country.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:51 amGeez, Zee... why'd ya hafta go 'n spoil regressisnormal's big moment like that?
Do you allus hafta believe in "facts" or sum'pin?
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:51 amTheToonGuy Says:
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 am
Snow lied. He needs to apologize. Publicly.
___________________________________________
Snow will never apologize. Apologies for getting information wrong are for ThinkProgress and other media who are concerned with accuracy and transparency, not those who are merely concerned with agenda and propaganda.
Have you EVER heard any wingnut talking head apologize for lying? On those occasions when they really get backed into a corner with no possible escape, they will claim they "misspoke". But that's as close as it comes.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:54 amYou forgot to say, "I am rubber and you are glue, etc., etc"
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:55 amWTF is up with those glasses??? Elvis Lives!!!
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:55 amI have an idea...let's all ask the Producer of Dennis Miller's radio show what he thinks about Snow using Dennis Miller to lie to the public.
Contact forms: http://www.dennismillerradio.com/pg/jsp/general/contact.jsp#form4
Please be as polite as Dennis would be.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:55 amThey are going to just lie, bold face lie about everything. They'll soon be calling Obama an alien...they have nothing on the guy and he seems smart.
McSame is a Bush lacky and he's slow
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:57 amBreaking news: Tony Snow is, has been, and will likely always be a liar. If even Dennis Miller attempts to correct the record, it must be egregious!
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:58 amFlagged for blog whoring and off-topic
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:59 amMan, progressisslow is one giant dunce.
As for Phony Schmo, old habits die hard.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:00 pmHe didn't lie. He "misspoke". Comeon, people, get it right.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:01 pmIt is all about keeping the base together. Without their base of right wing Christian imbeciles, they are toast. They know they can tell whatever lies they like, because they know the base is too stupid to learn, and too stupid to care. The question is whether the base, plus vote manipulation, plus media collusion, will be enough to pull it off this time.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:04 pmDumb_Hussein_Fox Says:
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:00 pm
As for Phony Schmo, old habits die hard.
______________
And apparently some bad habits never die at all.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:05 pmHe didn't lie, he spoke like a typical reich-winger.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:06 pmSuper Alpaca Says:
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Dr. Hussein Matt,
Flag me. I have 190 accounts left on Think Progress. I’ll be back!
Well, we will just have to wear out the flag button then, P-brain.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:07 pmHey, Snowjob is a professional liar, was a liar for Bush, and now a professional liar. That's what liars do, they don't tell the truth, and the 28er's will believe every word of it, never thinking to look it up.
Blow it out your a$$, Snowjob the blowjob.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:07 pmflagged....you'll soon be down to 189
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:10 pmLying, cheating, murder, or in other words there are no vices in the pursuit of corporate fascism....with apologies to B. Goldwater.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:11 pmIslamic buddies? Didn't Bush make an agreement with Egypt just recently? I believe he did. Looks like it's GW's problem.
I'm part of the free speech crowd so I'll stand by your right to be an idiot Super Alpaca.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:12 pmIf Tony Snow-job claims Obama voted present "160 times" then we SHOULD believe him? Snow-job is pissing in the wind, and Denis Miller is down-range. The Republicans spread lies, falsehoods, and half-truths. How anyone could believe this is simply amazing.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:20 pmI've gotta say the last eight years have been like living under house arrest with a terminal psychotic off his meds. Thanks Tony for yet another glimpse into fantasyland. Anyone ever tell you you look like Jim Jones (only more cancerous)?
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:26 pmRepublicans always lie. That's why they're Republicans.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:26 pmdennis millers 10 listeners....you know family and staff...the ones that have to listen, probably believe it.
Miller is spending family money probably trying to buy a place in the spotlight. I thought he would fad away after failing at comedy and then the humiliation he got with the sports announcer gig.....wow. Guess some people just don't have any lowest point....
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:27 pmSnow never met a fact he didn't lie about.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:30 pmTony Snow opened his big mouth to make an utterance that is easily proven to be completely false?
Well, at least we know he is predictable...
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:34 pmIm really tired of this "falsely claims" bullshit.
um.. he lied.
if anybody is doubting weather tony snow lied and giving him the benefit of the doubt and is working for this site should probably stop.
lets start calling it like it is.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:37 pmExlexia no doubt you're very troubled by Snow's falsity, right? Does this qualify as "massive" in your book, if not, why?
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:44 pmIt was a joke!
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:51 pmHa ha ha!
Come on, you liberals,lighten up!
Ha ha ha!
It's good to see some things never change. Dennis is still not funny, and Tony can still make shit up with the best of them.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:58 pmY'know... yesterday WAS April Fool's Day...
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:00 pmMiller is doing local ads in Chicago. They reek of pity for the man.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:00 pmTony "cut and run" from an Administration at war.
Now in his private sector where he can make even wilder false claims than he was allowed as White House Press Secretary.
But Tony is going to have to be Glenn Beck crazy if he wants to get better pay. And for Tony to have to work with Dennis Miller, well why does Tony have to start at the bottom of the GOP mud pit all over again ?
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:02 pmTony Snow is now Bill O'Reilly's official backup or whatever the term is. I heard Snow spewing similar fact-free nonsense on the radio the other day and it struck me immediately that his voice is that of the White House, at least to my ears and I'm sure to many others.
In a way it was refreshing. O'Reilly likes to pretend that he's an independent sort of guy, but when his backup is the very recent official spokesman for the White House, and he's spewing the same talking points on O'Reilly that he did from the podium, it sort of gives the game away.
Right wing radio is propaganda, intended to deceive the American people. Sad but oh so true.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:06 pmRefreshing Bullsmith? sounds as refreshing as having the pile of dung a full 12 inches away from your face as opposed to 6 inches.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:10 pmAfter all the years of being six inches deep in the dung, any distance is refreshing.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:27 pmI try very, very hard to remain compassionate towards Tony Snow, who is struggling with a terribly nasty form of cancer. But stunts like this one make it very difficult.
Why is it that bald-faced lying is the stock and trade of the GOP? Why is it that we progressives have to spend an extraordinary amount of time rebutting crap from "conservatives" like Tony Snow? Why don't the American people see them for what they are? THEY ARE LIARS!!
Sadly, Americans have been trained over years and years and years of exposure to the media to only pay attention to the salacious and the sensational. Snow makes a wild claim, so that is what people hear. They don't hear that Snow's claim is a lie. (Sad-sack old Dennis Miller simply doesn't know enough to hold his own with a bull$hit artist like Snow, and given his politics isn't inclined to go to bat for a Democrat.) And since most people aren't motivated to seek out truth on their own, the lie becomes what they remember and believe. Add to that the entrenched thinking by conservatives that the media is "liberal" and therefore unreliable and so when the media does try and correct the record, these conservative lemmings STILL believe the lie and reject the truth.
Sometimes I just really want to scream.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:34 pmOMG, has TP turned the page and is now going to report on things that affect both Obama and Clinton? Then, how's this:
Obama takes the lead in Pennsylvania
http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2008/04/obama-takes-lead-in-pennsylvania.html
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:35 pmMarie Says:
The Obama people will have to do something to discredit the jackass and set the record straight. We all know that the poisonous right wing listeners believe that what their adored liars tell them is fact.
So. They are never going to vote for Obama anyway so why should we care what they believe?
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:36 pmSuper Alpaca Says:
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Dr. Hussein Matt,
Flag me. I have 190 accounts left on Think Progress. I’ll be back!
Well, we will just have to wear out the flag button then, P-brain.
Please, TP, if you banned them by their IP addresses, your job would be much easier. What's the problem. You don't know how to do it? Hire a high school kid in a computer class. They can teach you how.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:41 pmThe troll is bragging about the number of accounts he still has left?
Exactly the kind of stuff any normal person would not mention, let alone do.
Talk about unhealthy obsessions...
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:51 pmI'm just certain that both Mr. Snow and Mr. Miller, being the highly principled and value-driven individuals they are, will immediately issue corrections to their statements.
Don't ya' think?
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:54 pmI suspect that Mr. Snow, whenever the time comes, is going to have a most unpleasant experience when he approaches those "pearly gates."
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:35 pmTony Snow is doing what he knows best: Lie, lie and then lie again...
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:41 pmYet another fascist Reich-wing nut destined for eternal Damnation.
When this slime ball meets his maker shortly, how is he going to explain his sopport for war criminals.
It is not like this guy has the time to make amends and ask for forgiveness.
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:48 pmDear Bilbo,
Let's hope the hell not. TP, please do not start headlining "polls." I came here because Mark-losthismind-Karlin took his once awesome news site Buzzflash.com and turned it into worse than an extension of the Obama campaign....he turned it into a Hillary-bashing site, despite the pleas from long-time readers which continue to this day for him to grow up and not destroy a good news resource. I pray ThinkProgress continues to post NEWS stories and not stupid campaign crap a la the MSM. I'm not into polls...I say let the voters know the issues and then REPORT how they've actually VOTED, but in order to offset your link, how about this one?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080402/pl_nm/usa_politics_poll_dc;_ylt=An9VrT__gj8e07O9ek8WtEes0NUE
Clinton leads Obama, McCain in key matchups: poll
Wed Apr 2, 9:04 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton holds a 9-point lead over rival Barack Obama among likely Pennsylvania Democratic primary voters ahead of the state's April 22 primary, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday.
Clinton, a New York senator who would be the first female president, leads the Illinois senator 50 percent to 41 percent, the poll found. She also runs better against the likely Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, in Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio -- all important swing states in the general election....etc.
...and so on.
April 2nd, 2008 at 3:40 pmWhat's with the Elvis shades??
April 2nd, 2008 at 4:21 pmOkay,
Tony? You were just corrected by Dennis Miller.
...
Think about that for a minute.
April 2nd, 2008 at 4:50 pmLet me guess, jackball...so you probably buy the Rush-Coulter line of McCain's being a "liberal" so you're thrilled he's missed over HALF the votes?
April 2nd, 2008 at 6:33 pmHold on folks, this is just the beginning. Up until now Obama has been treated with comparable kid gloves by the right wing noise machine. Now that it's all but decided who the Democratic nominee is going to be, the gloves will come off.
And they're going to much more deperate this time around so be prepared for a swift boating like you've never seen before!
http://progressiveworldreview.com
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:30 pmGo to http://www.votesmart.org and you can see Obama's voting record and anybody else you want in congress, senate or house.
June 10th, 2008 at 7:30 amAs of this morning we know that Tony Snow was loaded of medications because he was really sick. That could justify his lapsus. What are we going to say about senator Hobama's habit of always doing and saying the convenient things for his political career? Is he on some kind of medication? At least there is somebody honest in his family: his wife Michelle. She has no problems in stating that she hates our country.
July 12th, 2008 at 7:47 amI just finished counting bam's voting record, it showed me that not one of you people took the time to check his voting record, as of today's date he has not voted over 201 times. and you people want him as president, the one thing you should know is when, he taxes the rich it will not belong you will be taxed as well, then you will see what that evil Bush really did for you people and when unemployment goes up to 12 percent and you have no gas at all I don't want to hear you whinning that it was bushes fault because he has really helped the nation over all.
July 12th, 2008 at 4:11 pmI heard Snow spewing similar fact-free nonsense on the radio the other day and it struck me immediately that his voice is that of the White House, at least to my ears and I’m sure to many others.
In a way it was refreshing. O’Reilly likes to pretend that he’s an independent sort of guy, but when his backup is the very recent official spokesman for the White House, and he’s spewing the same talking points on O’Reilly acer batcl32 battery,acer batcl32l battery that he did from the podium, it sort of gives the game away.
Right wing radio is propaganda, intended to deceive the American people. Sad but oh so true.
October 15th, 2008 at 8:09 am