John McCain

Sen. John McCain did something rather usually today. He canceled a presidential campaign visit to New Hampshire, the first primary state, to actually do his day job. Here’s the one-sentence explanation sent to the media today by his campaign press staff:

“U.S. Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign today announced that due to a vote in the United States Senate, it has cancelled the Town Hall Meeting scheduled for this evening, Tuesday, December 18^th in Hudson, New Hampshire. John McCain will resume all scheduled campaign activities tomorrow, starting with a campaign event with Dr. Henry Kissinger and Jim Woolsey in Boston, Massachusetts.”

That vote just happens to be on a $500 billion spending bill that would cover most functions of our national government. It shouldn’t be a surprise that McCain would leave the campaign trail for this fundamental task as a lawmaker, especially since Democrats control the timing of such votes and have little interest in accommodating a Republican candidate’s schedule.

But it is a surprise, simply because McCain has missed so many Senate votes this year. Tribune readers call every week to point this out after we publish a roundup of congressional votes in Sunday’s Perspective section. The Washington Post says McCain has missed more than half of all votes this year, and last weighed in on Oct. 31.

As a former frontrunner now struggling to catch the competition, McCain probably has had little choice but to forgo many of Senate responsibilities so he could campaign as much as possible. But the strategy has cost him support in his home state, and the complaints would have gotten much louder if he had missed today’s spending bill as well.

Posted in: Presidential campaign |

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