Obama’s Legislative Accomplishments–and how this experience helped him win
February 20, 2008 by Wes
Chris Mathews embarrassed an Obama supporter last night by asking him to name Obama’s legislative accomplishments–something the supporter couldn’t do. Besides the mean-spiritedness of the ambush (Mathews after all new that the average supporter, even–or perhaps especially–a Texas state senator–would not be enough of a wonk to know the details of Obama’s Illinois senate record or his two-year U.S. Senate record); and besides the fact that he didn’t ask Rep. Tubbs, who as a member of Congress is far better equipped to answer, the same question when it comes to Clinton; and besides the fact that Mathews has never spent a single segment on his show outlining the legislative records of anyone, and that people would know a lot more about legislative records if pundits like him weren’t playing an inane gotcha game, with vague allusions to substance as pawns in this game rather than as actual topics of discussion; besides all these things, there is the fallacy that the any random Obama supporter’s abilities to name these accomplishments is somehow evidence that they don’t exist. It’s a fallacy that conveniently fits into the intellectually lazy "Obama Lacks Experience" narrative.
But the most poignant irony here is Matthews attempt to attribute Obama’s winning to rhetorical flourish rather than political skills honed by experience.
In fact, Obama dismantled an entrenched and massive (which is what "experienced" really means) Clinton political machine–not just by inspiring people (god forbid!) but also by means of superb campaign organization. And all along there’s been evidence–evidence that the Clinton campaign ignored to its detriment–that Obama in fact developed formidable campaign skills as an Illinois legislator, including the the ability to run deft campaigns and build broad coalitions of support. Take this article on Obama’s tough state-level legislative battles and what they mean in the context of Obama’s campaign victories. To pass the nation’s first state law requiring videotaping all police interrogations (to eliminate coerced confessions), he had to go up against the police, tough-on-crime Republicans, pandering Democrats, and the incoming governor. He won this battle not simply by waging war on his opponents, Clinton style, but by by persuading and reassuring them. The law passed overwhelmingly–in the state senate, unanimously.
By contrast, there’s the desperation that the Democratic party has made a high art in the lst few years, an art that Hillary has perfected in her shifting campaign strategies, attacks, and opportunism. The sense I get from the Democratic legislature is that they are willing to stand up for very little but power–and that’s where their weakness comes from. Constantly testing the winds, they can’t even muster up opposition to a president with one of the lowest approval ratings in history.. In this context, "experience" is a very dangerous theme to try with dissatisfied voters–voters who disaprove of lack of legislative opposition to Bush even more than they disaprove of Bush. "Experience" comes to mean: typical Washington power-plays, opportunism, and so on. The "toughness" that’s supposed to complement political experience is in fact: a willingness to protect your power viciously when you have it, but stand up for nothing that might endanger it–rather, try on one political hat or another, on "strategy" or another, in desperate attempts to hit the electorate’s pander-button. In other words, Experience really means Washington, and that means the Desperation game. The game that Clinton seems poised to play to its bitter end for her astronomically low chances of pulling out the nomination. In this sense, Hillary has much more experience than Obama.
The problem with this game as that you win only if your opponent plays by the same rules. These are the rules of "Experience"–intra-party deals, slick ads, and–when all else fails–attacks. The idea that someone might set its target beyond this politically narcissistic world–and make more authentic appeals to people’s "hopes"–clearly offends the partisans of experience. That’s the meaning of the Clinton Campaign’s unwillingness to concede (in specific contests or the contest as a whole); their far-fetched idea that they are going to make up the difference in pledged delegates; and their delusional idea that, failing to do this, they are going to seduce superdelegates or even pledged delegates into overturning Obama’s win. All of this is to say that complacency–experience–is subject to insurgencies.
Now to the record.
First, I think it’s significant that Obama has more experience as an elected official than Clinton, especially in light of the fact that he a) built a massive legislative record during that time and b) used the same skills with which he built that record to run a superb campaign against Clinton. IHere’s a graphic that illustrates the fact that Obama has far more legislative experience than Clinton, especially when his time in the Illinois State Senate is taken into account–he sponsored more than 800 substantive bills to Clinton’s 20 (and these generally run the gamut from establishing the "Kate Mullany National Historic Site" to naming courthouses).
When it comes to their Senate voting records, they are (predictably) 90 percent identical (read more here). Critical and well-known differences include Clinton’s mistakes on Iraq, Iran, and Bankruptcy–enough for me.. But other differences include votes on Energy, Pork, business Tax Breaks, Cuba, FEMA, Ethics, and Gun Rights (I outline some of these in the table below).
Other comprehensive references:
- A summary of Obama’s career
- A very useful comparison grid
- Contrast article
- Details on authored/co-sponsored bills by Obama/Clinton:
| Clinton | Obama | |
| Number of bills introduced | 6 Years in Senate: 20 |
1st year in senate: 152 (co-sponsored 427) 10 years (including 8 in Illinois Senate, 2 in U.S. Senate): wrote 890 bills and co-sponsored another 1096 |
| Bills |
1. Establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site. 2. Support the goals and ideals of Better Hearing and Speech Month. 3. Recognize the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. 4. Name courthouse after Thurgood Marshall. 5. Name courthouse after James L. Watson. 6. Name post office after Jonn A. O’Shea. 7. Designate Aug. 7, 2003, as National Purple Heart Recognition Day. 8. Support the goals and ideals of National Purple Heart Recognition Day. 9. Honor the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton on the bicentennial of his death. 10. Congratulate the Syracuse Univ. Orange Men’s Lacrosse Team on winning the championship. 11. Congratulate the Le Moyne College Dolphins Men’s Lacrosse Team on winning the championship. 12. Establish the 225th Anniversary of the American Revolution Commemorative Program. 13. Name post office after Sergeant Riayan A. Tejeda. 14. Honor Shirley Chisholm for her service to the nation and express condolences on her death. 15. Honor John J. Downing, Brian Fahey, and Harry Ford, firefighters who lost their lives on duty. 16. Extend period of unemployment assistance to victims of 9/11. 17. Pay for city projects in response to 9/11 18. Assist landmine victims in other countries. 19. Assist family caregivers in accessing affordable respite care. 20. Designate part of the National Forest System in Puerto Rico as protected in the wilderness preservation system. |
Overall by Category (Illinois nad U.S. Senate) 233 regarding healthcare reform 125 on poverty and public assistance 112 crime fighting bills 97 economic bills 60 human rights and anti-discrimination 21 ethics reform 15 gun control 6 veterans affairs Key U.S. Senate Bills (authored or co-sponsored) 1. the Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006 (became law) 2. The Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act (became law) 3. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (passed in the Senate) 4. The 2007 Government Ethics Bill (became law) 5. The Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill |
| Differences | Quoting this | |
| Iraq War | I think this goes without saying | |
| Bankruptcy | Clinton has an ambiguous record on this. | |
| Anti-cluster bomb amendment | More info here | |
| Taxes | "And Obama voted to increase taxes when he opposed a package of business breaks that included the extension of middle-class provisions. Clinton voted for the tax bill — before she voted against it, as did Obama, in the legislation’s final form." | |
| Energy |
"In corn-growing Iowa, the first stop in the presidential nominating process, Clinton will have to explain the ethanol vote she cast on June 15, 2005. The senator recently softened her stance, but she is on record opposing a large federal boost for the grain-based fuel." "The two Democrats differed on other energy-related issues. In August, Clinton supported a bill to expand oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, while Obama voted against it. During the 2005 energy debate, Obama backed an increase in vehicle fuel-efficiency standards, which Clinton opposed. Clinton voted against the energy bill itself because it was stuffed with oil industry incentives. But Obama supported the legislation because it included language that would double ethanol demand by 2012." |
|
| Cuba | "Obama twice voted to cut off TV Marti funding, while Clinton supported maintaining it. " | |
| Second Amendment | "The senators differed on a July 13 vote that would prohibit the confiscation of legally held guns during natural disasters — a response to seizures by law enforcement officials in the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina. Obama voted to ban confiscations; Clinton was one of 16 senators opposing the restrictions." | |
| Pork | "Obama sided with fiscal conservatives on several high-profile measures to strip funding for pet projects, including a widely criticized Pentagon travel system and the relocation of a railroad line along the Mississippi Gulf Coast that was part of a Hurricane Katrina redevelopment project. Clinton voted in favor of the projects." | |
Good stuff. THanks for this good side by side info. I’m sure a lot of people will find this helpful since it has cmoe out that Hillary has lied about her experience.
good stuff! thanks for doing this research