A Senator who thinks that s/he has more to offer to the country than sitting in a room of 100 egos - and so decides to run for President - better be sure that the ambition doesn’t exceed the grasp.
How an elected Senator decides to actually represent their electorate is reflected in their legislative initiatives, their committee work, and their voting records.
How about actually voting? There’s a really sharp division among the Democratic candidates who are Senators.
Of the top 5 missed-vote Senators, three of them seek the Democratic nomination for President.
Biden, Dodd, Obama.
The statistics for the Democratic contenders are below.
% of missed votes:
Biden 35%
Dodd 34%
Obama 34%
Clinton 18%
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/...
Now, I know the response to this discrepancy among the contenders - it really doesn't matter....etc. In fact, some candidates will attack the vote of an opponent despite the fact that they themselves skipped the vote. For a candidate with much less experience, Obama's missed votes are proportionately even greater than Biden and Dodd in terms of time served. Obama has only been there since 2005, and he's missed 34%? Geez.
I disagree. While you hold an office, your performance in your current position will be examined to see exactly how you discharge your responsibilities.
So I think that these numbers make a statement - about respect to the voters and accountability for the position sought and granted.
That would put Hillary #1 on the respect and accountability scale. The numbers don't lie.