Presidents are supposed to lead. They're supposed to make difficult choices. In American politics, decisions that no one else can made are made in the Oval Office.
It's a very tough responsibility, and yet we've got politicians who want to be President whose voting records suggest that they're little more than empty suits who stick their finger in the air and see which way the winds blow if they even bother to vote on the subject matter before them.
The MSNBC story about Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is typical. He avoided taking stands on hundreds of votes, choosing to vote present instead.
That's leadership?
That's who we want to lead our country?
What does he stand for except the "present" vote?
With Senators vying for the Presidency, many have skipped key votes altogether. Just in the past week, we've seen any number of candidates on both sides of the aisle conveniently miss appropriations votes.
Presidents can't duck key issues. Bills that come before him have to be signed, vetoed, or pocket-vetoed.
Sen. Hillary Clinton is using Obama's "present" votes in the Illinois legislature as an issue. That's funny, especially considering all the votes she's ducked on the floor of the US Senate. Voting on an issue might upset some future potential voter, so the fewer votes cast, the easier it will be to convince someone who hasn't been paying attention that this candidate or that candidate will do what they're promising.
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