Congratulations, Mr. McCain! You Finally Remembered That You're A Senator

Lost in the hubbub about the Senate vote on the Wall Street "rescue" bill was the fact that John McCain actually voted today. Yes, the senior Senator from Arizona cast a vote in the Senate for the first time since April 8th of 2008. 

McCain has missed more votes than any current member of the 110th Congress. Of the 655 votes in the Senate since January 4, 2007, John McCain has missed 420 of them, a solid 64%. (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/senate/vote-missers/). The only members of the 110th Congress who have missed more votes are deceased. Literally. Even Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota has voted more often--and he suffered a brain hemorrhage in December of 2006. 

So this is the self-declared "maverick" who claims he's the best candidate to fix Washington? McCain hasn't even bothered to do his job for the last 176 days. That's almost six months! 

I can hear the incredulity building. "But McCain says national security is his top priority. He must've voted for the new FISA bill, right?" 

Nope, missed it. 

"Well, OK. But surely, he wouldn't miss a vote to support veterans. He voted for the new GI Bill, right?" 

Wrong, he missed that one too.

When Congress recessed in August without a vote on offshore drilling, McCain even had the audacity to say that, "If I were president, I would call Congress back into session and tell them to get back to work." This despite the fact that he hadn't voted in 133 days at that point (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26295771/).

John McCain says he has big plans to fix the gridlock that plague our nation's capitol. Perhaps he could start by simply showing up to work a little more often.