Did any Reps/Senators who were present abstain from voting today?

[Fly by night]

The Senate vote has been nagging at me a bit this evening -- the fact that about one-quarter of the Senate did not register a vote. I know that many were not in town (Kerry chief among them), but it would be nice to know whether there was anyone who was there for the debate in either house who decided to abstain. I for one would spin an abstention into an "I have doubts and I want more evidence before I certify the Ohio electors" vote.

Since I wasn't able to actually watch the proceedings today, it would be nice to know whether any Reps/Senators who were present did not vote either yea or nay. Any DUers know the answer to that question? And if so, can you identify the abstainers? I would be interested in communicating with them myself. Thanks kindly for your help.

Now to bed before midnight for the first time in weeks. (Oops, just looked at the clock; missed it again.)

[Fly by night]

1. kick

[weeve]

2. Senate Vote breakdown ... anyone ?

I too have been scouring the web looking for info on which Senators actually thought that this ( well known in advance ) Electoral challenge was sufficiently important to show up for. And further, how they eventually voted. Well, we know only Boxer had the integrity to vote AYE ( my new HERO ), but I'm curious what other Democrats bothered even to be there, and if they even voted. Any links to today's vote record ?

[imenja]

3. senate website, roll call vote

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00001

Mel Martinez seems to be on vacation already. He didn't vote.

[Fly by night]

8. Here's the list of "not voting" Senators

But the "Roll Call" site doesn't distinguish who was present or absent -- both abstainers and absentees seem to be recorded the same way. Does anyone remember seeing any of these Senators there during the debate? It's curious to see that six of the 30 Democratic Senators that we targeted for phone calls/emails/faxes to support our effort were "not voting" (and I didn't count Kerry in that number.) I also wrote five of the "not voting" Republicans (e.g., McCain, Chafee) because I thought they might swing our way. So again, if anyone saw any of these "non-voters" there or know how else to identify abstainers from AWOLs in the Senate or House, please let me know. Thanks.


Not Voting - 25
Akaka (D-HI)
Allen (R-VA)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Chafee (R-RI)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Craig (R-ID)
Ensign (R-NV)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Frist (R-TN)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thomas (R-WY)
Vitter (R-LA)

[Liberty Belle]

11. Glad to see Feinstein didn't vote to enshrine the shrub.

I only wish she'd been gutsy enough to join Boxer, and have written to tell her so.

[imenja]

13. I see no dignity in not voting

Seems to me it demonstrates a lack of courage. Does that mean she didn't bother to turn up? If she opposed the electors, she should have voted yea.

[emlev]

15. She wasn't there. "Flu." n/t

[weeve]

10. Thanks for the link!

I've bookmarked it.
Good way to keep an eye on my gals in D.C.
( Cantwell and Murray ). A few thoughts ... perhaps Murray didn't want to alienate her solid progressive base by voting NO , hence avoided voting at all. ( Patty did as you recall vote against authorizing Bush in his lust to go to war ). I would have preferred her ( and all the other Dems ) to join with Boxer, but there you have it.
The more spineless Cantwell ( who voted FOR Bush's Iraqi bloodlust ) , is next up for re-election , and probably fears being saddled with this particular vote. Bad move. These fear-based decisions are exactly what's currently wrong with the Democratic party. I have no doubt that her next opponent will be the TRUE Soreloserman Dino Rossi, who has been whining non-stop ever since the most accurate tabulation of the vote here in Washington ( hand recount of paper ballots ) showed that he actually did lose ( albeit by a whisker ). If Cantwell doesn't move to the forefront now on the Verifiable Elections issue, she's toast. Electronic unverifiable machines have already got a foothold in this State ... if more are added ... fuggidaboutit. That's GOT to be THE #1 issue from today going forward !!

[imenja]

14. the yea vote is the good one

objecting to the seating of the Ohio electors. Of Senators, only Boxer voted yea.

[floridadem30]

5. I don't have the breakdown but several senators spoke on our behalf.

C-span just rebroadcast the senate debate. Weyden-OR, Ted Kennedy, Obama-Ill, Reid-NV, Clinton-NY, and several others rose to our defense during the debate.

[genius]

4. 25 Senators and 80 Representatives did not vote

[weeve]

6. Strategy ?

Do you also think the Dems had an agreed upon strategy in advance to only have ONE Senator sign on ? Apparantly Boxer was the 3rd largest vote getter nationally on Nov. 2 (Kerry #1, Bush #2, Boxer #3). Perhaps the Dems felt she was the most insulated ( 6 yrs. to her next election ... pardon, I mean 4 years until I vote for her for PRESIDENT !! ).
Anyway, I was SOOO disppointed that no other Democrat voted with Boxer to challenge Ohio's results. The only way I can wrap my mind around it is that they had all agreed in advance on this. Still disappointed, as I feel that having ALL or MOST of the Dem. Senators vote AYE , would have made this the #1 news story for quite some time. Now it's just a lunatic typical LeftCoast speedbump enroute to Bush's SECOND fraudulent inauguration! Harumph

[Mistwell]

7. Term Limited Out

Isn't Boxer Senate term limited out next election anyway by California Proposition 164? I was under the impression she was a lame duck already...

[Fly by night]

9. kick

[weeve]

12. No term limits for Boxer

... as far as I could discover...

Federal law does not limit the number of terms a person may be elected to serve as a senator or representative in Congress.

[Wilms]

16. I wonder how many "stayed away".

:eyes: