Is voting Present in the Illinois Senate the same as holding up a sign that says?

[woods]

i am a coward who some day wants to run for President and if i vote yes or no people will know i am not qualified?

[fmradio]

YOU DONT HAVE A CLUE WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT

[john]

Both parties suck....do not be fooled!

Democrats:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xV4KfeZabE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5st1WpF5HcM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWG5Dh_ehTU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB97F7fFTL8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LoAMfJOrms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0ipO8By5Xk

Republicans:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJYwgC4aRRc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5BY1RgKf64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pgHxHLU-bY

[narnia]

You know it, baby! lol

[muzaff]

It makes it easier to come down squarely on both sides of the fence. Voting "present" is like acknowledging that you don't know which way the wind is blowing, and are afraid it might change.

[martin]

Its the same as being a terrorist infiltrator.

Obama / Biden
Osama / BinLaden

[vmaster]

McCain's attendance record in the US Senate than Obama's, as if you care.

[master]

Yes.

[sandman]

Okay, I'm gonna weigh in on this but first I need to say that I am NOT a Barack Obama supporter. And I confess to using his record of voting PRESENT as a talking point why I feel he's not qualified to hold a position as important as POTUS.

But I wanted to be an informed voter and since I live in Illinois, I took the time to do a bit of research.

Voting PRESENT can be a safe haven for politicians, but I think it's important to understand why the option exists. So here's a link to the PEW Research site ... the entire article is interesting but it's the last two paragraphs that explain the intent of the option.

The question then becomes: in each of the 130 instances when Obama voted present, what was his motivation? Did he not agree with some part of the legislation? or was he fence-sitting? His penchant for voting PRESENT seems really high, regardless of why he did it. I just don't think he's done anything to assure the people of this country what his concerns were, and again, as an Illinoisan, he certainly hasn't offered any explanation to his constituents.

[juliaadam]

very useful links,, thanks for sharing.