Scott, Hey, if you don't like Obama, then the fact that he abstained 40% of the time should be a good thing! :-)

That gave me a nice laugh.  I could see him in the White House.  He'd make decisions 60% of the time and say, "Whatever" the other 40%.  Hey!  Maybe he'd let his mentor, Rev. Wright, make the decision those times he felt like abstaining?

Bill Clinton showed very poor judgment in deciding to get blowjobs from his intern, yet that didn't mean he also had poor judgment in his Presidential decisions. 

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Funny you should bring that up.  The GOP really went after Clinton for lying under oath, as well as damning him to hell for being as adulterer.....  How can they now be so willing to accept McCain?  He had a 2 year affair with his current wife while married to his first wife.

What is the practice like with "abstaining" in this case?

Having watched a few british political dramas, there's a practice in the house of commons where if people on one side of the aisle need to be absent for a vote, they make a deal (possibly in private, possibly through the Parth Whip's office) with someone on the other side so that they both abstain from the vote. A gentlemen's agreement whereby the House conducts everyday business without absolutely everybody being present, but without changing the relative size of the majority.

Also in votes where there is already a bipartisan majority in favor, and abstaining or opposing has no practical impact, other, perhaps more urgent business can be taken care of. Politicians don't spend all their time listening to speeches and casting votes after all.

Something similar exists, as far as I can tell in other parliaments.

The issue isn't whether Obama abstained from votes, but whether or not his abstaining caused "his" side to lose and on what scale these decisions (if any)  were.

When something's going to pass or not pass by a wide margin, it's not unusual at all for a legislator to not vote.  Especially one busy running for President.  Or one acting on the behest of his evil master, like Obama with Darth Wright.

Al beat me to it with my reply to your "concern" about Obama's votes, but since the gloves are off, let's be frank here - I sleep really well at night knowing what I know about my candidate.

All you've done is throw out sound-bite talking points - all of which were thrown right back at you.

And I haven't heard peep one out of you in terms of adult intellegent answers to any of our questions about proof of Obama's socialism or how Wright has influenced him.

Let me be clear here - if you want to continue to be the running joke of the thread, that's your right, but I'd advise you to go out and do a little research and come back when you're ready to debate with the grown-ups.

Imagine the uproar if McCain said this...

How many states are there?

We'd have to imagine the uproar, because McCain and Clinton say stupid thing after stupid thing, yet all we ever hear about is what a former preacher in Obama's church (one of many, by the way) said.