Does voting "present" mean Obama couldn't decide?

Question

Guiliani said Obama voted "present" 130 times in the state legislature; suggesting that meant he couldn't make up his mind to vote yes or no. Is that accurate? Does voting "present" mean yes or no, or what?

Answer 1

it means Here, I'm here.

Answer 2

It means unsure, i guess he was in the middle of changing his mind again.

Answer 3

LIBERAL WHILE YOU LEARN - CONSERVATIVE WHEN YOU EARN.

Answer 4

It means he abstained: just didn't vote. That doesn't necessarily mean he *couldn't* make up his mind. It may just mean he didn't *want* to make up his mind. Sometimes there are good reasons to vote present, sometimes there are not.

However, for the amount of time Obama was in the state legislature, 130 abstentions is a lot.

Answer 5

Voting "present" means exactly what it says...he was "present" but he chose NOT to VOTE either yes OR no.  It's pretty simple really.....

If you do a search for Obama voting record, or McCain voting record, you can see exactly how they voted on each and every issues...and whether they voted "present", "yes" or "no".

Also, most people do not know, but Obama voted with Bush about 90% of the time like McCain did...many of these votes were for simple things like congratulating the spelling bee champion, etc.

Answer 6

Yes -it means Obama has ZERO moral convictions!

Answer 7

It means that he had no public opinion on the issue, kind of sad when it happens 130 times.

Answer 8

It means Obama was afraid to make a decision and afraid to take a risk.

We don't want someone who can't vote in Senate as a President who would make the biggest decisions for America. There is no voting "present" as President.  

Answer 9

While conveniently ignoring the 4,000+ yes/no votes that Obama cast during his State Senate career. He also conveniently ignores the laws Obama helped pass:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...

As for the "present" vote, read this and judge for yourself:

Excerpt:

Republicans controlled the state Senate for most of Obama’s tenure, and under former Majority Leader James “Pate” Philip, the GOP regularly forced tough votes on social issues, which put Democrats representing swing districts in a tough spot. If they voted too often with liberal Democrats on such things as abortion restrictions, they would be targeted by Republicans for defeat.

To counter this, Democratic leaders and their allies sometimes encouraged senators from solidly Democratic districts to vote "present" to block legislation they opposed, thus blurring distinctions between staunch bill opponents and those who were on the fence.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/...

Answer 10

No. It means was present, but didn't want to have a yes or no vote attributed to him on a particular issue. It means he didn't want anyone to know his position on the issue, and be able to hold it against him later. He can change his "view" depending on who is asking about his position, the better to suit is own interests at a later date.

Answer 11

That is inaccurate. It doesn't mean that you couldn't make your mind up. It can mean that you don't have enough information about the issue to vote on it. Voting "present" is being neutral on the issue and it is better than voting "yes" or "no" for something that you know nothing about. It's not uncommon for a state legislature to vote "present" that many times. The thing is, the state legislators have so many things to vote on that it is impossible to keep in check with all of them. In other words, for example: If there are 500 things that you need to vote on in one year, it is impossible for you to research and know everything on all 500 of those things. So, you vote "present" if you are undecided. It doesn't mean that he couldn't make his mind up, it probably means that he didn't have enough info about the issue at hand to make a wise, thorough decision at the moment.

Senators and House members do this too sometimes but since they don't have as many things to vote on as a state legislator, they can keep in check with all the issues.

Of course, the average Republican is ignorant when it comes to voting and state legislation so 91ul1ani was able to get away with that with an applause.

Answer 12

Voting present means two things there is already a majority that has voted on a bill or it was orchestrated in a way that it would have to be re written in order to meet specific requirements!  so voting present means you have to put alot of thought into it or the majority had already agreed upon the specifics!

Answer 13

no it does not mean that and what would he know about being a Senator, he could never get enough Votes to get their and McCain has been absent more than any other Senator, did guili911oni mention that.

Answer 14

It means Obama refused to decide.  A fantastic quality in a president.  

Answer 15

taking a side means you may have to pay for it one day

Answer 16

He abstained from taking a side at all. Obama is very bad at taking any personal stance (look at his views on g*y marriage) in controversial issues, seeing that it may be detrimental in future politicking.

Answer 17

It's similar to abstaining from the vote. It means he couldn't commit to voting yea or nea on the issues.  

Answer 18

Well ... he is very good at it ... voting "Present" 95% of the time and spending half of his US senate career running for President.

Answer 19

it simply means that he didn't want to make a decision....YES, IT'S TRUE!

Please GOOGLE it.  

Answer 20

It has nothing to do with being unable to make a decision.  

A present vote is a third option to an up or down "yes" or "no" that is used with great frequency in the Illinois General Assembly. It has many varied and nuanced meanings that, in the context of the actual bills, border on boring.

Its most important use is as a signal – to the other party, to the governor, to the sponsor -- to show a willingness to compromise on the issue if not the exact bill, to show disapproval for one aspect of the bill, to question the constitutionality of the bill, or to strengthen the bill.

Answer 21

No Obama explained his present votes before but Sara Palin wanted to mislead people about it. Voting present in the chicago senate meansthat you have something to add to the bill to make it better .