Maybe he is just a little tired after mowing the lawn of his slum landlord buddy Rezko's empty lot. Maybe it's not a coincidence Obama admires Reagan. The junior Senator from the great state of Illinois has already shown the sign of Reaganesque senility. I shudder to imagine what it would be like if his fingers are on the nuclear button. A sound advice to Senator Obama is to stick with the "Present" option, which he has already exercised 130 times. Obama said oops on 6 state Senate votes http://www.latimes.com/news/politic...an24,0,4956975,full.story?coll=la-home-center He pushed the wrong button, he asserted at the time. Two of the admitted flubs were on hotly contested issues. By Peter Wallsten Los Angeles Times Staff Writer January 24, 2008 Barack Obama angered fellow Democrats in the Illinois Senate when he voted to strip millions of dollars from a child welfare office on Chicago's West Side. But Obama had a ready explanation: He goofed. "I was not aware that I had voted no," he said that day in June 2002, asking that the record be changed to reflect that he "intended to vote yes." That was not the only misfire for the former civil rights attorney first elected to the state Senate in 1996. During his eight years in state office, Obama cast more than 4,000 votes. Of those, according to transcripts of the proceedings in Springfield, he hit the wrong button at least six times. The rules allow state lawmakers to clear up a mishap if they suffered from a momentary case of stumbly fingers or a lapse in attention. Correcting the record is common practice in the Illinois Legislature, where lawmakers routinely cast numerous votes in a hurry. But some lawmakers say the practice also offers a relatively painless way to placate both sides of a difficult issue. Even if a lawmaker admits an error, the actual vote stands and the official record merely shows the senator's "intent." No one has accused Obama, now a U.S. senator and a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, of changing votes to play both sides, and an Obama spokesman called that idea "absurd." But Obama has come under fire from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina for his frequent use of another oddity of Illinois politics: voting "present" rather than casting up-or-down votes on controversial measures. "It is very difficult having a straight-up debate with you, because you never take responsibility for any vote, and that has been a pattern," Clinton told him in a debate Monday. Tommy Vietor, an Obama spokesman, said the mistaken votes were not meaningful. "In Illinois, legislators often have just a few seconds to cast a vote, so after thousands of votes they're bound to make a few mistakes," he said. Referring to Clinton's vote to authorize the war in Iraq and her support for a bankruptcy measure, Vietor added, "The real problem is when Democrats vote like Republicans." Four of Obama's admitted flubs drew little controversy. On March 19, 1997, he announced he had fumbled an election-reform vote the day before, on a measure that passed 51 to 6: "I was trying to vote yes on this, and I was recorded as a no," he said. The next day, he acknowledged voting "present" on a key telecommunications vote. He stood on March 11, 1999, to take back his vote against legislation to end good-behavior credits for certain felons in county jails. "I pressed the wrong button on that," he said. Obama was the lone dissenter on Feb. 24, 2000, against 57 yeas for a ban on human cloning. "I pressed the wrong button by accident," he said. But two of Obama's bumbles came on more-sensitive topics. On Nov. 14, 1997, he backed legislation to permit riverboat casinos to operate even when the boats were dockside. The measure, pushed by the gambling industry and fought by church groups whose support Obama was seeking, passed with two "yeas" to spare -- including Obama's. Moments after its passage he rose to say, "I'd like to be recorded as a no vote," explaining that he had mistakenly voted for it. Obama would later develop a reputation as a critic of the gambling industry, and he voted against a similar measure two years later. But he was clearly confused about how to handle the issue at the time of his first vote, telling a church group on a 1998 campaign questionnaire that he was "undecided" about whether he backed an expansion of riverboat gambling. And, months earlier, he had voted in favor of a version of the bill. The senator who led the opposition to the gambling measure, Republican Todd Sieben, said he took Obama at his word that the initial vote was an error. But Sieben also said the thin margin of victory was a sign that perhaps there was more to the vote than met the eye. "He was obviously paying attention to this vote. It was a major, major issue in the state, and it was a long debate," Sieben said. "The inadvertent 'Oops, I missed the switch' -- I'd be kind of skeptical of that." On June 11, 2002, Obama's vote sparked a confrontation after he joined Republicans to block Democrats trying to override a veto by GOP Gov. George Ryan of a $2-million allotment for the west Chicago child welfare office. Shortly afterward, Obama chastised Republicans for their "sanctimony" in claiming that only they had the mettle to make tough choices in a tight budget year. And he called for "responsible budgeting." A fellow Democrat suddenly seethed with anger. "You got a lot of nerve to talk about being responsible," said Sen. Rickey Hendon, accusing Obama of voting to close the child welfare office. Obama replied right away. "I understand Sen. Hendon's anger. . . . I was not aware that I had voted no on that last -- last piece of legislation," he said. Obama asked that the record reflect that he meant to vote yes. Then he requested that Hendon "ask me about a vote before he names me on the floor." Hendon declined to discuss the episode. "I try to block out unpleasant memories," said Hendon, who has endorsed Obama. "If I tried really hard to remember it, I probably could, but I'm not going to try hard because I'm supporting the senator all the way." Hendon said "it happens" that senators press the wrong button. But he was quick to add: "I've never done it." peter.wallsten@latimes.com
ironic how supporters of Obama avoid any mention of the actual article but focus on something completely irrelevant and instead plays on racial issues.
6/4000 equals .1%, I'm sure it happens now, did you even read this column because it says it happens all the time. its nothing to respond to.
It just doesn't seem like that big a deal, does it? "The rules allow state lawmakers to clear up a mishap if they suffered from a momentary case of stumbly fingers or a lapse in attention. Correcting the record is common practice in the Illinois Legislature, where lawmakers routinely cast numerous votes in a hurry. But some lawmakers say the practice also offers a relatively painless way to placate both sides of a difficult issue. Even if a lawmaker admits an error, the actual vote stands and the official record merely shows the senator's 'intent.'"
in other words, its not an issue but you're still going to try and make one out of it. Correcting the record is common practice in the Illinois Legislature, where lawmakers routinely cast numerous votes in a hurry. its not a "free pass" its not an issue for anyone from the Illinois legislature
He needs to man up and just admit that he took a stance on a given issue and stand by it. Or apologize for the policy position, not give this chickenschitt rationalization of pressing the wrong button. He says he is willing to work hard for the causes he believes in, then he can't even put in the work to figure out which button to press? Unbelievable. I'm looking into Obama's future and seeing a civil rights activist/opportunist and motivational speaker. Maybe he can take over Morgan Freeman's role of deep voiced movie narrator. Just make sure there is no substance involved or anything that could keep him away from a smoke for more than an hour.
so they published an article in the politics section in an election year that noone needs to respond to or think about. I don't think thats the reaction newspapers are looking for.
okay..I'm a conservative...but even I'll admit that sometimes the wording on voting ballots can be very confusing sometimes. Just a few months ago here in Dallas, if you wanted the Trinity River project to pass, you had to vote NO, of that particular referendum. If you didn't want the Trinity River Project to pass, you had to vote YES. Seemed backwards and caused a lot of confusion for many voters. Sorry, but sometimes people on BOTH sides try to make a lot out of nothing(especially the party that doesn't occupy the whitehouse at the time), and this is a good example of that.
But you and his supporters seem to be, quickly to defend his mistakes with good intention. A man should learn to be responsible for whatever he did, good or bad intention. But he's a politician, even one with vision of change and hope, but a politician, an inexperienced one. What else would one expect? It's D&D, people are just here killing some time, I haven't seen anyone convinced anyone else to change opinion anyways, no matter how trivial the matter is. His mistake, his irresponsibility, somehow became some BBS poster's fault, because they made it a big deal out of nothing. If Obama wins with some odd chance, and the Republicans eat him alive, you will have your next excuse ready. Because the Clinton's caused the diverse in Democrats, so that Big Uniter can't unite anyone anymore. It's all others' fault. On the other hand, if Obama actually has the guts to stand by a hard decision to invade China, he's probably a stupid man, but he's still a man.
he's not the only one who made mistakes pressing the button. only two out of the six issues were even meaningful according to this article and both issues are issues he has proven to be consistent on. do you think he will make a mistake to press a button to launch nukes? do you think he will veto a bill and say no I didn't mean to do that?
