Unimaginative Legislative Drone

Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn attempts to help Barack with his undistinguished Springfield record. Look, he voted present over a hundred times, the refuge of someone who wants to play it safe--and he did it, a "soft no", on centrist, not liberal measures:

For instance, Obama voted not for or against but "present" on 129 bills, including a bill to ban sex shops and strip clubs near schools, churches, and day-care centers, and a bill to allow juveniles who committed a crime with a gun near a school to be tried as adults. Voting present is a common tactic in the Illinois legislature. The Obama campaign says he was trying to avoid burdening local authorities on the sex shop measure and did not think the other bill would reduce crime.. But others say his votes should be an issue.
SENATOR DAN CRONIN (R): Whatever it is, he didn't want to stick his neck out. He didn't want to risk alienating some group.
MORAN: And Obama was also considered a reliable liberal Democratic vote in Illinois, voting for most gun control measures, opposing efforts to ban so-called "partial birth abortions," and supporting hundreds of tax increases. Republican State Senator Kirk Dillard worked closely with Obama on some issues.
DILLARD: Senator Obama certainly is a liberal.

And as we in Illinois all know, he took credit for legislation written and worked on by others. But Barack Obama did distinguish himself in one way--he was the most liberal politician in Springfield. His first political associates were radical, and his voting record bore that out. And never did he challenge the Chicago machine when it counted.

As far as his US Senate record, it is also undistinguished. Aside from his doctrinaire old liberal positions--Barack voted most liberal in the Senate and his VP pick Joe Biden is number 3--you might say it's pretty empty as far as challenging his own party goes, or any bipartisan efforts. Obama's campaign guru David Axelrod on Sunday faced one of his first legitimate interviews without just softballs and bit the dust. Kind of audacious taking credit for the substance of a Bush 41 bill when BO wasn't even in the Senate yet. (And a Bush, awk!)

Hey Eric, remember how disappointed you were with Barack for not challenging the machine when he had a chance? When he endorsed an "unimaginative legislative drone whose reform credentials are wholly imaginary"? If the shoe fits.

P.S. Cook County now has the highest sales taxes in the country. And Illinois continues an undistinguished and corrupt state, dominated by Democrats.

UPDATE: Sen. McCain underscores the point in a campaign visit in Chicago today. Tribune:

"The America people want change in Washington and they want the right kind of change. They are glad that someone like Gov. Sarah Palin has taken on her party and the special interests in Alaska. I have stood up against my party when I had to. And Sen. Obama has never once stood up to his party. You know that very well in the state of Illinois," McCain said.

McCain contended that Obama has asked for $932 million in "pork barrel projects" during the Illinois senator's first term in the Senate while the Republican noted he had not sought earmarks for Arizona.

Tom Bevan, RCP, "It's not about the issues", but the narrative. The RCP average is trending McCain, for a change. Ha! And Hillary backers defend Palin.

UPDATE: Trib columnist John Kass, "A Democratic machine in Chicago? Don't be naive". It starts this way:

A Tribune news bulletin of great importance flashed on my electronic slave collar (elitists would call it a BlackBerry) at the Republican National Convention:

There is no Chicago Democratic machine. Mayor Richard Daley says so.

If this is indeed true, and no sane man would ever doubt the mayor, then I might as well kill the stupid idea of writing a Barack O'Bama column.

"I don't know where they get this, I mean, this idea that there is a big Democratic machine going on," the mayor told reporters last week.