Kathy's US Politics Blog

Based on discussion in the US Politics Forum, I've searched the Library of Congress THOMAS database for Sen. Barack Obama's legislative history in the 110th Congress (2007-2008). Note that this is the first Congress in his tenure where his party controlled the Senate.

The summary:

• Obama has introduced 11 resolutions in this session
  Of the 11 resolutions, four were passed/agreed to by the Senate. The sole joint resolution stayed in committee.
• Obama has introduced 59 bills in this session
  Of the 59 bills, two -- S.453 and S.2433 -- were placed on the Senate floor calendar. None have been voted on.
• Obama has introduced 59 amendments in this session
  Of the 59 amendments, 22 were passed by the Senate, either by voice vote or unanimous consent.

Of these 129 resolutions, bills and amendments, almost one-third (40) had no co-sponsors; almost one-third had only one or two (39) co-sponsors. Only 11% (14) had co-sponsor numbers in double-digits (10 or more).

Read more...

Based on discussion in the US Politics Forum, I've searched the Library of Congress THOMAS database for Sen. John McCain's legislative history in the 110th Congress (2007-2008). Note that the Senate is controlled by the opposing party.

The summary:

• McCain has introduced 1 resolution in this session
  The sole resolution stayed in committee.
• McCain has introduced 21 bills in this session
  Of the 21 bills, four (S.84, S.86, S.722, S.1304) were placed on the Senate legislative calendar; four (S.327, S.531, S.952, S.1255) were ordered to be reported from committee. One of those, S.327 is related to S.2739, which passed the Senate 91-4. Neither McCain nor Obama voted; S.2739 became Public Law 110-229 on 5/8/2008.
• McCain has introduced 16 amendments in this session
  Of the 16 amendments, nine were passed by the Senate by unanimous consent; one was incorporated into another amendment; and two were withdrawn.

Of these 38 resolutions, bills and amendments, more than one-third (15) had no co-sponsors; almost one-third (12) had only one or two co-sponsors. Only one had co-sponsor numbers in double-digits (10 or more) ... reinforcing his image as a maverick within his party.

Read more...

Using Wordle, I've created a visual analysis (comparable to a tag cloud) of John McCain's acceptance speech. Wordle is a simple tool that allows us to use visual cues to illustrate word frequency. In this case, words that are "small" appear less frequently than words that are large.

Read more...

Then check the C-SPAN archives. It's not intuitive, but click that big "Flash" button on the right-hand side of the page, not the screen capture on the left-hand side. C-SPAN will launch a popup window with the Flash viewer.

I don't agree with everything she said -- especially when Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) implied we can drill our way (partially) out of our energy hole by sticking more straws into the ground in Alaska -- but, wow, I respect how well she said it. And, based on the hootin', hollerin', and cheerin' in St. Paul, the delegates at the Republican National Convention loved every minute of it, too.

It may have been her first "big" speech, but Palin delivered that debut prime-time speech with aplomb, with humor, and with pacing that almost made you think that she wrote it herself. No teleprompter here; at least one AP photo shows her with printed speech in hand at the podium.

Also on Wednesday, academics and former Clinton campaign staff "endorsed the Republican charge that John McCain’s running mate has been subject to a sexist double standard by the news media and Democrats." The closest allusion to this in her speech was her explanation of what it means to be a mayor.

Read more...

Using Wordle, I've created a visual analysis (comparable to a tag cloud) of Sarah Palin's acceptance speech. Wordle is a simple tool that allows us to use visual cues to illustrate word frequency. In this case, words that are "small" appear less frequently than words that are large.

You can read the text of the speech or watch the full speech on MCNBC.

See a similar analysis of Obama's speech.

Color me amazed: the Democratic and Republican National Convention organizers could count on $16.8 million each from taxpayers to fund their extravaganzas.

The funds are courtesy the Presidential Election Campaign Fund (PECF) ... you know, the $3.00 check-off on your tax form. The public financing pool that Barack Obama said he would use (he he brokered a "financing truce" in March 2007) before he decided not to. The public financing pool that John McCain said he was going to use ... but will he stick with that decision given the boost to coffers that came from adding Governor Palin to the ticket?

According to Congressional Quarterly:

Read more...

The event was billed as the "Rally For The Republic," and, for about 12,000 Ron Paul fans, it was the place to be in Minneapolis yesterday. The Rally was about 10 miles from the official Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

Rep. Paul (R-TX) was not invited to speak to RNC delegates because he remains steadfast in his opposition to the war in Iraq.

The 10-term Congressman contends he got a second class floor pass this year, one that requires him to be chaperoned. This seems an odd way to treat a candidate that Sen. John McCain is wooing for support. Yet that support is unlikely to come: Read more...

Read more...

On a holiday weekend, when many Americans are either away from home or ignoring the news, the McCain campaign raised at least $10 million after announcing Gov. Sarah Palin as McCain's choice for vice president. This 2.5 day windfall can be compared with Rep. Ron Paul's record: more than $4.2 million on one day, 5 November 2007. At that time, only Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama had raised more money in a single day.

See McCain Picks Palin