More Present Votes:
More from Clinton’s most recent mailer:
Sen. Obama was the only State Senator to vote ‘present’ on a bill that sought to protect the privacy of sex-abuse victims, and the only state senator to not support the bill. [HB854, Passed 58-0-1, 05/11/99]
Sen. Obama was the only State Senator to vote ‘present’ on an adoption bill that imposed stricter requirements for parental fitness, and the only State Senator to not support the bill. [HB1298, Passed 57-0-1, 5/6/1999]
Sen. Obama voted ‘present’ on a bill that would increase penalties for the use of a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school. The bill called for the mandatory adult persecution of a minor at least 15 years of age being tried for using a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school. [SB759, Passed 52-1-5, 3/25/1999]
Sen. Obama voted ‘present’ on a bill to prohibit the presence of adult sex shops near schools, places of worship, and day care facilities; bill allows local governments to regulate the presence of adult sex shops. [SB609, Passed 33-15-5, 3/29/2001]
Each one of these are bills which Obama had Constitutional problems with and there is a strategy to the votes. By drawing attention to the Constitutionality of the bills, he was able to demonstrate a general support of the type of bill, but pointing out problems with the bill. And sometimes it worked–one one juvenile justice bill him and Ricky Hendon voted present and Edgar paid attention. Edgar then issued an amendatory veto that raised the age of being tried as an adult. The vote above for using a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school wasn’t about using a firearm near a school being a problem, it was prosecuting a 15 year old as an adult.
Given he talked to the press about the votes and made the case about the above in each case, it’s hard to tell why this is a concern. As President he could veto the bills and send them back for changes. In Illinois, as a Governor, he could have issued an amendatory veto. However, as a Legislator, voting present was an effective strategy to draw attention to generally good bills with problematic sections.