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Posted on 10/02/2004 5:39:57 PM PDT by Libloather
Senator misses votes in Capitol
Dole's office serves more constituents
By LYNN BONNER, Staff Writer
Published: Oct 2, 2004
Modified: Oct 2, 2004 7:45 AM
Since he became John Kerry's running mate July 6, Sen. John Edwards hasn't been to the Senate much -- and he hasn't voted at all.
Edwards, North Carolina's senior senator and the Democratic nominee for vice president, cast his last vote June 24, against the confirmation of a federal appeals court judge from Wisconsin. He has missed more than three dozen votes since then while campaigning.
He was not in Washington last month to vote on a bill that will extend tax cuts for the middle class. Edwards, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, also missed a vote confirming Porter J. Goss as director of central intelligence.
Next week, while Edwards is in Cleveland for a debate with Vice President Dick Cheney, the Senate is expected to debate and vote on the Sept. 11 commission's suggestions for reorganizing the nation's intelligence operations.
In comparison, Sen. Elizabeth Dole, Edwards' Republican counterpart, has missed four votes since June. And her office is working on more than twice as many cases to help Tar Heel constituents as Edwards' office.
Edwards' latest absence follows more than a year when he was away for long stretches while he ran for the Democratic presidential nomination. As a senator, Edwards makes $158,100 a year.
It's not unusual for senators seeking higher office to skip sessions. In 2000, Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut missed more than 60 votes between the time Al Gore chose him as his running mate and Election Day.
The resignation of Republican Bob Dole of Kansas, who left the Senate as majority leader to run for president in 1996, was not typical.
"The issue in 1996 was, Dole wanted to break association with his being a congressional insider," said Bruce Miroff, a political scientist at the State University of New York at Albany. "In order to have the ID he wanted to have to run against [Bill] Clinton, he had to terminate that official role."
Senators more often keep their jobs while running for higher office, as John F. Kennedy and Warren G. Harding did when they ran for president, and as Harry Truman and Al Gore did when they ran for vice president.
"There is not one expected or honorable course," Miroff said.
Mike Briggs, a spokesman for Edwards, said the senator's staff talks to Edwards by phone as often as they need to, and he says the staff is still solving problems North Carolinians have with federal bureaucracies.
"This whole experience of the last year or so has turned me into a big fan of cloning," Briggs said. "I wish we had two of him. But he's tending to business while he's been out on the campaign trail."
Edwards has 15 staffers working on constituent services -- eight of those full time. But in August, Dole's office was working on about 4,000 constituent requests for help, while Edwards' office was working on 1,800, said spokesmen for each office.
Briggs questioned whether the offices were counting their cases the same way. "There's no technical definition of this stuff," he said.
Nevertheless, some people with interests in federal action say Edwards' absence from the Capitol puts North Carolina at a disadvantage.
Hugh Overholt, a New Bern lawyer, goes to Washington twice a month as part of a team working to keep Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station off the list of bases the Pentagon will close.
Overholt, who contributed to Edwards' Republican opponent, Lauch Faircloth, six years ago, said he has never met Edwards despite his request for a meeting to talk about military bases. And although Edwards' staff is very polite on the phone, Overholt said, he hasn't met with anyone from his office in at least two years.
"Basically, we are in the mode of dealing with Senator Dole, Congressman Jones and Governor Easley on these issues," said Overholt, a registered Republican. Cherry Point is in the district represented by Walter Jones, a Farmville Republican.
Briggs said Edwards' office has no record of Overholt's requesting a meeting. Edwards also does not have the same kind of sway over decisions on military bases as Dole and Jones, who serve on armed services committees.
"But he's still a senator," Overholt said. "Obviously, you want all the help you can get."
Frank Lee, a Johnston County tobacco grower and crop insurance agent, said he has spoken to congressional Republicans and Democratic Rep. Bob Etheridge about proposals for a buyout of tobacco quotas, but never to Edwards. Congress is considering a buyout of federal tobacco-growing licenses, ending a decades-old price-support program.
"He's probably not neglecting it on purpose," said Lee, a registered Republican. "I just think he's too busy with the other, running for president, vice president. He needs to be working for us."
Brian Nick, a spokesman for Dole, didn't directly criticize Edwards but said the quota buyout "certainly calls on an all-hands-on-deck effort."
Briggs said Edwards is pushing for the buyout, noting that he talked to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle about it this summer.
Larry Wooten, president of the N.C. Farm Bureau, said he didn't have any problem getting return calls from Edwards. He last spoke to Edwards by telephone a few months ago, he said, and saw him at a fund-raiser this year.
Wooten works closely with both senators' offices. "I can't say that I talk more with Senator Dole directly any more than I talk with Senator Edwards," he said.
Pender Sharp, a Wilson County tobacco farmer and an Edwards supporter, says all the criticism of Edwards as an absentee senator is partisan sniping. Sharp last spoke to Edwards in July, when he was with Kerry for a rally in Raleigh.
Sharp, who hosted his own Kerry-Edwards farmers rally, said the Republican leadership in the U.S. House is the real hitch in getting the quota buyout.
"He's engaged on the Senate side," Sharp said of Edwards. "The entire issue is held within the leadership of the House."
Former Sen. Robert Morgan, a Democrat from Lillington, said a good staff can do a lot when the boss is away -- but it's still not the same as having the senator at work.
"It would not be accurate to say that it did not have some effect on his duties," said Morgan, who served a term from 1975 to 1981. "But it's a common practice, and it's one that should be tolerated, and other members of the Senate understand that."
Three of the Senate votes John Edwards has missed since Labor Day:
SEPT. 9: An attempt to spend $70 million for grants to states, local governments and emergency response agencies to improve communications equipment failed, 46-45. Edwards was one of nine senators not voting.
SEPT. 13: An attempt to spend $70 million to identify and trace shipments of hazardous material failed, 55-34. Edwards was one of 11 not voting.
SEPT. 14: An attempt to require the president to give Congress the Scowcroft Commission report on the capabilities of the U.S. intelligence community failed 49-45. Edwards was one of six not voting.
Like Kerry, Edwards is a thief.
Raleigh front page news...
Why is this not a HUGE story? The only thing these guys get paid($150,000/year+ of American taxpayer money) to do is VOTE and they don't do it? Recall the bastards.
I'm with you. Our tax dollars working hard for us (sarcasm)!! Recall, Recall, Recall!!!!!
Check both of their voting records at congressmerge.com
Kerry has only been to 9% of the votes this year. I didn't bother to look up Edwards and do any math...
That's true. Better yet if the entire Congress just went home for a few years.
Of course there is not an honorable course? They are United States Senators, are they not? Duty and honor take a backseat when we are discussing the exalted club of the US Senate!!!!!
If I would not be able to go to my job because I want to run for the office of County Sheriff, I would have to take a leave of absence (non-paid) or resign my position with my company! Why is the Senate so different?
Why is it that Bush can run the country and still run for president and Kerry and Edwards just take a pass. These guys don't care about our country, they just care about power.
Working vacation, my friend.
Welcome to FR! Have you meet the kitties yet?
Ahhh..... a newbee troll. Do I smell ozone?
I hope Cheney has the balls to bring this up during their debate...
Micheal Moore, is that you?
The thing is, if they were to be elected, Day 2, Edwards would start running for president.
People should take a look at NC and learn from OUR mistake.
Probably a hit and run. First and only post.
Kerry doesn't have time to tend his Senatorial duties. He has manicures and pedicures to get, tans to get rid of, skiing and windsurfing photo ops...too busy.
I personally think that President Bush had a pretty stressful day on the day of the debate. President Bush is too busy leading the country to prepare a flawless debate. He stands on his record of the last 4 years-demolishing two terroristic regimes is enough for me right now.
I had no problems with it. I later learned that Dubya was out helping the folks of Florida that were hit by the hurricane at the very same time Effin' Kerry was getting his nails done.
And I'm not the only one who noticed this...
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