No Excuse for this from Kerry OR Edwards

[Capn Sunshine]

or is there? Is the people's business less important than your personal campaign? :wtf: are these guys thinking? There are thousands of suffering Americans here who just got the shaft.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Washington (AP) - A Senate measure to extend federal unemployment benefits failed by two votes Thursday despite the election year support of 12 Republicans from states hit hard by layoffs.

Democrats tried to attach the amendment to a gun liability bill, but it failed 58-39 in the GOP-controlled Senate. The margin was two votes shy of the 60 needed to overcome a procedural objection.
www.wjla.com/news/stories/0204/129182.html
No shows: Edwards and kerry.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. I agree it's a problem but the manner in which the bill came

to a vote also seems a problem...

[cindyw]

2. So what your saying is that the amendment passed with 58 and the

Repubs on only have 39. So with 39 and not 40 they cannot stop it. Where is the news here? If they vote to stop it, then then Kerry and Edwards can vote to say no.

[Capn Sunshine]

3. No, it cannot be stopped

That possibility was determined by number of votes FOR/AGAINST. It lost by two regarding the possibilty of stoppage also.

Two.

[rooboy]

4. How many senators are there in the US senate?

I mean, if Kerry and Edwards had shown up for the vote, couldn't Cheney have come down and broken the deadlock, or other GOP senators be called in to defeat the amendment?

[Expat Sue]

10. 50

There are 50 senators (2 from each state). The Senate was designed to give each state equal representation. The House was designed to be proportional to population so larger states have more votes.

[newyawker99]

13. Hi Expat Sue!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[EXE619K]

5. I don't see how this is such a big problem.

"Wind sock" voting(or no votes in this case) is a well known tradition for Kerry and Edwards.

Nothing new here.



:shrug:

[lastknowngood]

6. Why hold them accountable now they havn't been there most

of the year. They were not their to vote against the overtime elimination bill either. If they can't even do the job their being paid for why give them another not to do.

[Capn Sunshine]

7. you just reminded me of another issue!

BOTH these guys are democratic senators. IF they end up on a ticket together, is there any plan in place to protect their seats ?

I think Lieberman not resigning ultimately weakened his position in the general.

[seaglass]

8. Here, read this it might give you some perspective.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=409194&mesg_id=409194

[bigtree]

9. Real cute attack here

For those who care, neither the Democratic leaders nor any other Democrat there has or will complain about this. It's not because they don't care, it's because they know that if there was any chance that Kerry's or Edward's vote would have helped Daschle would have called them and they would have come to vote.
____________________________________________________________________

"Kerry spokeswoman Kelley Benander said the campaign is in constant communication with the Democratic leadership. "John Kerry has committed to Senator (Tom) Daschle, that he will be there for any close vote. The unfortunate reality is that when you are running for president you are going to miss votes."

"Anytime the presidential candidates have been needed, they have been there," said Ranit Schmelzer, spokeswoman for Democratic Minority Leader Daschle, D-S.D. "It's worked out so far; we expect it will continue to work."

Kerry has also shuffled his schedule for votes. When the Senate was debating a bill to ban late-term abortions in mid-March, he made a quick detour to Washington between campaign stops in Boston and New York to vote to support a woman's right to have an abortion. It was a nonbinding resolution, but Daschle asked all four candidates to be there, and it passed 52-46. But Kerry and Edwards missed the final vote on the abortion ban, which passed 64-33. Both have voted against the ban in the past.

So far, missing votes hasn't created a political storm for any of the candidates and it may be a non-issue, according to political analyst Stuart Rothenberg.

"The line of attack on missing votes is pretty obvious: `They're not doing their job now, why should they get a promotion,'" said Rothenberg. "But I think voters understand it's hard to hold a job and run for a job."

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=16&num=2116
____________________________________________________________________

This is the type of spin that I expect from the other side. Anyone who knows a wit about Congress knows they have reliable vote counters on both sides. Members often will stand down or vote to effect a strategic block of the other side while allowing votes like Dole's to go through. You can bet that the republicans had more than enough votes to twist the agenda their way.

If they would have made a difference then they would be there. This attack is designed for novices to the legislative process. I shouldn't expect fair analysis of that process here I guess. To suggest that Kerry or Edwards shirked their duty by missing votes in a presidential election is opportunistic slander. But don't let me stop you.

[seaglass]

12. Actually you should expect fair analysis here, there are

a number of bright people on DU, you're just not going to get it.

[maxanne]

11. amazing

the lengths that folks will go to to justify these two senators consistant failings in job performance. If it were anyone else, we'd be having a collective cow about wanting to replace them.

[iamjoy]

14. Give Me a Break

If they were to resign, the Republican governors in their state would appoint Republican Senatorial replacements who would vote the way we don't want them to vote anyway.

This is why it is unlikely a Senator will ever be elected president, because we just can't resist an urge to pick on them for missed votes, or question every vote they ever made. The problem here is we have too darn many Republicans in Congress setting & controlling the agenda and our nation's future.

Give me a break, give THEM a break. Do you really want another 4 years of Dubya?

I wanted to make my 100th post count, something more dramatic, but I just had to weigh in on this....