The Split Over Telecom Immunity

Shane Harris has the roll call:

Sen. Obama voted to strip it (so, he voted for no immunity).
Sen. McCain voted not to strip the amendment (voted for immunity).
Sen. Clinton did not vote.

As Harris writes:

But Clinton's non-vote is most interesting. She was never considered fully onboard with the anti-immunity crowd, represented most vocally in the Senate by Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.). Presumably, this hands Obama an arrow to fire at his rival, who has criticized the former Illinois state senator for his record of "present" votes.

Update: Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines e-mails: "Senator Clinton was unable to vote earlier, but she has made her strong opposition to this legislation crystal clear."

Clinton was campaigning in Texas.

Comments

Hillary Clinton has talked at length about Sen. Obama's present votes, which is fair game. But it does open her up for some criticisms regarding missing today's FISA vote.

In its own call with reporters on Monday, the Clinton campaign... sought to tie his record of voting "present" on the abortion bills in Springfield to what they called a larger pattern of being unwilling to take a stand on issues. "Presidents don't get to vote present," said senior Clinton adviser Ann Lewis. (From 1/14/08 Huffington Post)

White House hopeful Hillary Clinton sharpened her attacks on Democratic rival Barack Obama on Monday, criticizing him for failing to vote yes or no on a series of abortion and gun-control measures when he was in the Illinois Senate. (...) "A president can't vote 'present.' A president can't pick and choose which challenges he or she will face," Clinton said. (12/4/2007 Chicago Sun Times)

So a president cant' vote 'present', but they can skip votes all together.

In her defense, maybe she was too busy skipping primaries to actually perform her Senatorial duties. That's leadership.

Posted by Ben | February 12, 2008 2:28 PM

Hillary Clinton has talked at length about Sen. Obama's present votes, which is fair game. But it does open her up for some criticisms regarding missing today's FISA vote.

'In its own call with reporters on Monday, the Clinton campaign... sought to tie his record of voting "present" on the abortion bills in Springfield to what they called a larger pattern of being unwilling to take a stand on issues. "Presidents don't get to vote present," said senior Clinton adviser Ann Lewis.' (From 1/14/08 Huffington Post)

'White House hopeful Hillary Clinton sharpened her attacks on Democratic rival Barack Obama on Monday, criticizing him for failing to vote yes or no on a series of abortion and gun-control measures when he was in the Illinois Senate. (...) "A president can't vote 'present.' A president can't pick and choose which challenges he or she will face," Clinton said.' (12/4/2007 Chicago Sun Times)

So a president cant' vote 'present', but can skip votes all together.

In her defense, maybe she was too busy skipping primaries to actually perform her Senatorial duties.

Posted by Ben | February 12, 2008 2:33 PM

How do you expect her to be in DC when there's a primary in Texas in just three weeks? It's one of the twelve states in the country that actually count, don't ya know.

Posted by neil | February 12, 2008 2:58 PM

yup.. nothing is as bad as OBAMA missing the move on vote just twenty minutes after voting on a safer resolution.

He also missed the Iran vote, but didn't mind getting mileage out of it.

From 2005-2006 he missed a 1/3 of his votes and has failed to convene the subcommittee he chairs.

Posted by obamaoverrated | February 12, 2008 3:22 PM

maybe Hillary was busy recruiting faux supporters, it's gotta be time-consuming.

http://voteforhillaryonline.blogspot.com/2007/11/get-paid-to-post-positive-comments.html

Posted by Dirk | February 12, 2008 3:29 PM

To be fair, the telecoms have several recorded phone conversations in which Hillary makes her stance on the matter "crystal clear."

Posted by tph | February 12, 2008 3:56 PM

obamaoverrated:

Obama intentionally skipped the MoveOn vote in protest, stating that it was a frivolous issue that should not be treated with respect via a Senate resolution. You can certainly disagree with his opinion and his choice, but you shouldn't misrepresent what actually happened.

At any rate, it seems to me that MoveOn's membership liked his position on it, seeing as how they overwhelmingly endorsed him, so it's a bit of a moot point.

Posted by Col | February 12, 2008 3:58 PM

Hillary Clinton was the only Democratic U.S. Senator “Not Voting” on the Democrats’ proposed legislation in the Senate stripping telecom immunity from the FISA renewal bill; all but the most conservative Democrats voted for the provision, the Dodd Amendment, No. 3907. Senator Obama, like most Democrats, voted “Yea” on this Democratic provision. No Republican voted “Yea” on it. Only Democrats favored it. In other words, Hillary was the only Democratic Senator refusing to vote on whether to provide retroactive legal immunity to telecom companies that illegally assisted the Bush Administration to spy against American citizens without a warrant. She was the only Democratic Senator to avoid voting on whether the FISA bill should be stripped of its ex-post-facto provision, its provision that violated the U.S. Constitution’s dictum: “No ... ex post facto Law shall be passed.” George W. Bush must have been pleased with her that day.

Posted by cettel | February 12, 2008 4:07 PM

I totally agree with Hillary that we need a candidate who does more than just talk. Words are nice, but action is what we really need. That's why I'm proud to support Senator Obama.

Too bad Hillary could only manage to talk the talk on warantless wiretapping and telecom immunity. Lucky for her that the margin wasn't closer.

I hope he hammers her on this.

Posted by Kelvin | February 12, 2008 5:49 PM

Clinton lies about Obama's present votes, so she deserves to reap the whirlwind.

Posted by bob | February 12, 2008 8:13 PM

I read elsewhere (don't remember location) that Hillary was actually in a DC studio doing interviews for affiliates in Ohio and Texas when the vote happened. Was that poppycock? If it's true, she deservedly be skewered about it!

Posted by Jeremy C. | February 13, 2008 4:19 PM