Funny how spin works. Lets take a look at McCains honorable congressional record for the year.
McCain Leads! (In Missed Votes)
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) didn't find time in his busy campaign schedule Thursday to make it back to the Capitol for votes on money for Iraq and Afghanistan as well as new educational benefits for veterans that he opposes. After all, even though he has been quite outspoken on the new GI Bill and even pushed a competing bill of his own, he still has to, um, win the Republican nomination (isn't Ron Paul still running??). And, apparently, he had to campaign and raise money in that pivotal swing state, California.
McCain's absence helped cement his lead in one key category over his potential Democratic opponents and every other Senator -- missed votes.
Through last week, McCain had missed a nice, round 60.0 percent of Senate votes so far in the 110th Congress. After Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), who was absent for several months following a brain hemorrhage, comes Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who lay well behind McCain with 41.8 percent of votes missed. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), a former presidential candidate, was fourth, followed by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who had missed 31.7 percent.
Obama and Clinton both managed to make it to the Capitol Thursday to vote for the war money and the new GI Bill. Obama and McCain skipped the vote Thursday on overriding President Bush's veto of the Farm Bill (even though McCain really, really dislikes the Farm Bill), while Clinton voted nay.