I have always assumed that Senator Barack Obama has voted “Present”, the equivalent of NO VOTE, the majority of the time during his short stint as a Senator. This was at least the impression I received from the news media. On the flip side, I never even thought to question what Senator John McCain’s voting record was. I guess I just always assumed he was more decisive than Obama, given that he’s been in the Senate 22 years, as opposed to Obama’s 4 years.

Using the detailed records of Senate votes available on VoteSmart.org, I was able to compute some very basic statistics about each candidate’s voting habits between the years 2005-2008. I used this time period because that is how long Obama has voted as a senator. I’m including McCain’s voting stats between 1995-2008, as those are available and may provide a more comprehensive picture of his voting patterns.

The Data: (Updated for accuracy thanks to B. Ginsberg)

Obama (2005-2008)

  • Not Voting = 228 (40%)
  • Yay = 253 (45%)
  • Nay = 87 (15%)

McCain (2005-2008)

  • Not Voting = 300 (53%)
  • Yay = 136 (24%)
  • Nay = 132 (23%)

McCain (1995-2008)

  • Not Voting = 335 (35%)
  • Yay = 380 (40%)
  • Nay = 234 (25%)

The Results

From the above data it becomes clear that between 2005 and 2008 Senator McCain has actually abstained from decisive voting more often than Senator Obama. This is interesting in so much as the issue of abstaining from Senate votes has been used as a key point against supporting Obama’s presidential bid. The reasons why a senator would choose to abstain from voting are varied and can range from indecision to conflicts of interest.

Also, I could not categorize the issues that were voted on according to importance, as importance is subjective and depends on which community or group is being affected by that vote. To call an abortion bill more important than a farming bill would be nothing more than personal opinion.

Download the attached Excel workbook for issue by issue voting data by clicking the icon at the top of the post. To find out the specific bills that each candidate voted on, go to VoteSmart.