Obama Skips Vote
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/09/20/obamas_symbolic_inaction_skipp.html================
Twice in one day, Barack Obama is making himself conspicuous by his absence.
He has absent on Capitol Hill today when the Senate voted on a resolution by Texas Republican Jon Cornyn condemning MoveOn.org for its newspaper ad attacking Gen. David Petraeus. His primary rivals Hillary Clinton and Chris Dodd were among the 25 senators who voted against the resolution; also absent was Joe Biden, who previously had been the only Democratic candidate to speak out against the ad.
In a written statement, Obama framed his ducking of the resolution as a principled stand against stooping to the level of a petty dispute. "The focus of the United States Senate should be on ending this war, not
on criticizing newspaper advertisements," he said. "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. It's precisely this kind of political game-playing that makes most Americans cynical about Washington's ability to solve America's problems. 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.
He added, "All of us respect the service of General Petraeus and all of our brave men and women in uniform. The way to honor that service is to give them a mission that is responsible, not to vote on amendments like the Cornyn amendment while we continue to pursue the wrong policy in Iraq."
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