I fight for Americans. I fight for you. I fight for Bill and Sue Nebe from Farmington Hills, Mich., who lost their real estate investments in the bad housing market. Bill got a temporary job after he was out of work for seven months. Sue works three jobs to help pay the bills.
I fight for Jake and Toni Wimmer of Franklin County, Pa. Jake works on a loading dock, coaches Little League and raises money for the mentally and physically disabled. Toni is a schoolteacher, working toward her master's degree. They have two sons; the youngest, Luke, has been diagnosed with autism. Their lives should matter to the people they elect to office. They matter to me.
I fight for the family of Matthew Stanley of Wolfboro, N.H., who died serving our country in Iraq. I wear his bracelet and think of him every day. I intend to honor their sacrifice by making sure the country their son loved so well and never returned to remains safe from its enemies.
He also said:
The constant partisan rancor that stops us from solving these problems isn't a cause, it's a symptom. It's what happens when people go to Washington to work for themselves and not you.
Again and again, I've worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed. That's how I will govern as president. I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again. I have that record and the scars to prove it. Sen. Obama does not.
Well, he proved that his staff can come up with the names of real Americans, and learn something about them. (Something in doubt after he chose Sarah Palin.) But he didn't actually say how he would fight for them, what he would try to do for them, or why.
Once you start asking for things like reasons and explanations, it becomes obvious that there are all sorts grounds on which to doubt McCain's claims, but I decided on the nerdiest way I could think of. I would just do some counting of McCain's record vs. Obama's for the currrent Congress, using the Thomas database.
So, to the first question, about fighting for people. Well, a good first numerical test is does he fight at all? Does he get out there and try to get things done? Turning to Thomas I found the following:
Bills Sponsored:
(You want to fight for something, you introduce a bill to do it.)
Obama: 129
McCain: 38
So, Obama sponsored 3 1/3 bills for every one of McCain's. (3.39473684210526, more precisely, but who's counting?)
Total Co-Sponsors:
(You want your bills to pass, you go out and get co-sponsors.)
Obama: 547
McCain: 91
So, Obama got 6 co-sponsors for every one that McCain got. (6.01098901098901, more precisely, but who's counting?)
Average Co-Sponsors:
Obama: 5.82
McCain: 3.96
So, for each bill, Obama got about 1 1/2 co-sponsors for every one that McCain got. (1.470773907, more precisely, but who's counting?)
Most Co-Sponsors:
(for the most important fight, presumably)
Obama: 36
McCain: 14
So, at his peak, Obama got about 2 1/2 co-sponsors for every one that McCain got at his peak. (2.571428571, more precisely, but who's counting?)
Number of Bills With 10 or More Co-Sponsors:
(for the most important fight, presumably)
Obama: 14
McCain: 1
So, Obama got 10 or more co-sponsors 14 times for every one time that McCain did. (14.0000000, more precisely, but who's counting?)
Finally, to test the bipartisanship claim. Remember that? No? Well, here it is again:
The constant partisan rancor that stops us from solving these problems isn't a cause, it's a symptom. It's what happens when people go to Washington to work for themselves and not you.
Again and again, I've worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed. That's how I will govern as president. I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again. I have that record and the scars to prove it. Sen. Obama does not.
That's the rhetoric. Here's the reality:
Number of Co-Sponsors From Opposite Party on 7 Bills With Most Co-Sponsors:
(for the most important fight, presumably)
Obama: 29
McCain: 16
So, Obama got a little less that 2 Republican cosponsors for every Democrat that McCain got. (1.8125, more precisely, but who's counting?)
Now, you could say this isn't a fair comparison, since Obama got a lot more Democratic co-sponsors as well. But who's fault is that? In fact, this comparison is almost certainly biased in McCain's favor. His top 7 bills account for over 2/3rds of the total co-sponsors he's secured. Obama's top 7 bills account for less than half of his. So if we were to compare the total number of Republican co-signatures Obama had to the total number of Democratic co-signatures McCain had, the ratio would almost certainly be even more favorable to Obama.
So, what do you know? John McCain, caught lying again on national TV.
I'm shocked! Shocked! |
