McCain has made missed 87% of votes in last month, Obama 74%

John Byrne Published: Monday November 19, 2007  del.icio.us
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It's not unusual for Senate presidential contenders to miss votes in Washington.

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) took heat for missing scores of votes in the run up to the 2004 election. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has voted in just seven of the 23 votes in the last month.

But the maverick Arizonan who was once seen leading the pack for the 2008 Republican nomination -- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is confidently leading the pack.

In July, the Washington Post revealed that McCain had missed 42 votes in a row. Today, Roll Call revealed that McCain has made just three of 23 votes in the last month -- twice on a judicial nominee and another to block expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program bill.

As one Republican leadership aide told Roll Call: "The December legislative calendar will look like Swiss cheese because we’re going to have to work around the candidates’ schedules."

McCain made 3 or 13% of the last 23 votes, leading the Republican pack in absences (Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney are not in the Senate). On the Democratic side, Chris Dodd has made five (22%) of the votes in the past four weeks; Sen. Barack Obama six (26%); Sen. Hillary Clinton, seven (30%); and Sen. Joe Biden, nine (39%).

Many of the Democrats' votes came only in the last few days, taking late night flights to catch a hat trick of votes last Friday. Two votes centered on the Iraq war.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the paper that the Democratic leadership hadn't yet rescheduled Senate business to accommodate the four Senate candidates' schedules.

“Sen. Reid is confident that if he needs their votes, they’ll do everything they can to come back,” spokesman Jim Manley said.