When we scold Democrats for being misleading about John McCain’s record of support for President Bush, we should acknowledge when they get it right. Tonight, it looks like Barack Obama has gotten it right.
In his acceptance speech, Obama hammered McCain for voting with Bush — but he steered clear of claiming McCain supported him 95 percent of the time last year, a claim that, as I’ve written, is misleading because McCain barely showed up to vote last year and a lot of those votes were on issues the Democrats don’t disagree with. (Joe Biden used the misleading claim again last night.)
Instead, Obama said McCain voted with Bush 90 percent of the time — a claim that is more valid because it’s based on a CQ study that covers the entire period of the Bush presidency.
“The record’s clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time,” Obama said in his speech. “Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.”
How will McCain answer the charge? Tune in next week in St. Paul.
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Comments
Senator Biden and Senator Obama were using different time periods.
Senator Biden is referring to the voting record of McCain-the-Candidate.
The 95-percent-Bushy number in 2007, even though it is based on a record of showing up at only one-third of the votes, is surely a fair portrayal of the closeness of McCain-the-Candidate to George W. Bush.
The 90-percent-Bushy number includes the long lost period when McCain-the-Maverick was voting.
Posted by: CityEconomist
| August 29, 2008 10:41 AM
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