As I sit in my living room, clicking away on my Mac, watching the beginning of the Democratic debate, I am forced to imagine that Hillary may not win the nomination. Obama has the momentum and the delegate count to win this nomination. And while it saddens me that I may not see Hillary win, or see the first female commander in chief, I am assuaged by the fact that Obama and Hillary are not polar opposites. In fact, they are both good Democrats, and will further the goals of the Democratic Party.
I recently read this article on MSNBC.com, which lays out Obama's voting record from his time in the Senate. And I'll admit, I agree with most of his voting record. Senator Clinton talks about experience (a lot) and one of her key campaign points is that she has thirty-five years of experience and she is ready to be commander in chief on day one. But apparently, Obama has quite a bit of experience as well, or so his voting record would suggest.
WASHINGTON - In Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign stump speeches, he rarely mentions any of the more than 1,100 votes that he's cast as a member of the United States Senate.
Votes on legislation have the virtue of being concrete and precise, showing a pattern of belief and conviction.
On most votes, Obama and his rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton, have lined up on the same side.
And, Helenann did a lot of leg work (thanks!) and broke it down for us:
In a nut shell I found:
Senator Obama has sponsored or co-sponsored 570 bills in the 109th and 110th Congress.
Senator Obama has sponsored or co-sponsored 15 bills that have become LAW since he joined the Senate in 2005.
Senator Obama has also introduced amendments to 50 bills, of which 16 were adopted by the Senate.
His record is in fact quite impressive for a junior Senator from Illinois.
I must admit that for most of this election, I have been less than impressed by Obama's voting record, based on this article that went around via email a while ago, and was then featured in the New York Times:
In 1999, Barack Obama was faced with a difficult vote in the Illinois legislature — to support a bill that would let some juveniles be tried as adults, a position that risked drawing fire from African-Americans, or to oppose it, possibly undermining his image as a tough-on-crime moderate.
In the end, Mr. Obama chose neither to vote for nor against the bill. He voted “present,” effectively sidestepping the issue, an option he invoked nearly 130 times as a state senator.
I don't like the Obama was using the present vote to position himself politically, but I am slowly realizing that recently, especially in the Senate, he is voting as a loyal Democrat. I'll work every day until she concedes to help Hillary wins the election, but maybe a President Obama would be just as good.
And in the end, what matters most is that we have a Democrat in the White House to put our country back on the right track. So, Clinton supporters, if she concedes, let's band together as loyal Democrats to support Obama, and get the change our country deserves.