A few weeks ago, the Clinton campaign started going after Barack Obama on a series of “present” votes he cast while serving the state Senate. Clinton herself even emphasized the issue in speech in Iowa:
“Now, there’s been a lot of talk about yes or no answers to complex questions. But most people don’t know that for legislators who don’t want to take a stand, there’s a third way to vote. Not yes, not no, but ‘present’ – which is kind of like voting ‘maybe.’ Well, in the Illinois State Senate, on issue after issue, my opponent voted ‘present,’ instead of yes or no. […] A president can’t vote ‘present.’ A president can’t pick and choose which challenges he or she will face.”
She’s right, or course: A president can’t vote. The President has the choice of signing or rejecting a bill others have voted on, but he can not vote on it himself. Sometimes The President may not like a part of a bill, but think the majority of the bill is good, and sign it. Other times, The President may like part of a bill hidden inside a much worse bill, and veto it. The President can also choose to do nothing, and the bill becomes a law by default.
The President can not, however, write, craft, or vote upon a bill.
Now, Clinton did say this weeks ago, and then drop it, but it’s become a media meme. Why? Because Jon Stewart is on strike and so the media have no one to point out to them how silly the statement was in the first place. Also, because news is slow around the Holidays. The New York Times has a piece up about it. It comes down to this — voting ‘present’ is not uncommon in the Illinois legislature; it’s used to in Illinois to express disapproval of a measure, to give cover to other seats in weaker positions, or because the measure is downright stupid. He voted “present” 3% of the time during his time as a state Senator, and he’s followed this use of it in the US Senate as well. For instance, Obama voted present on a Senate measure to condemn an ad Moveon.org ran in the New York Times against Gen. David Petraeus. It was a stupid Gotcha! measure and he refused to play:
“This amendment was a stunt designed only to score cheap political points while what we should be doing is focusing on the deadly serious challenge we face in Iraq…. By not casting a vote, I registered my protest against this empty politics. I registered my views on the ad itself the day it appeared.”
Two other members of the Senate abstained from voting: Sen. Joe Biden and Sen. Maria Cantwell.
