Not at all, daniel. But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be pointed out when he does it.

“Oh there goes that Bush boy, picking on the little kids again. He always does that. Just ignore him.” Nah.

Sean, are you naive enough to believe that SaveFarris would let pesky things like facts get in the way of criticizing Obama.

Liar.

Obama cast over 4000 votes in the Illinois Senate. He voted Present 130 times. (In more than 50 of those times he voted with other Democrats as part of party strategy.)

Discounting the time he’s spent on the Campaign trail, Obama has spent about 16 months in the Senate (with nothing notable accomplished) and about 5 years in the Illinois Legislature (with nothing but ‘Present’ votes on his record.)

The reason Obama’s done as well as he has is because he has no record. Unlike Kerry or Gore (or McCain), no one can dredge up embarrassing votes because he hasn’t been around long enough to cast any. Which is why things like Wright, Plfeger, Ayers, Rezko, and James Johnson carry more weight than they would any other candidate. Without a record, we have to look at who he surrounds himself with. And that cast of characters is looking mighty iffy.

I stand corrected. One of their three choices for the important VP search committee is a truly awesome choice. Obama “fumes” about those rich subprime mortgage CEO’s while tapping one of their best buddies (“friends of Angelo”) to help select his VP for him. More proof that beneath the “Hope” and “Change” slogans beats the heart of a politics-as-usual campaign.

Last time I checked, James Johnson is one person.

“James Johnson, one of three people tapped by Mr. Obama recently to oversee the search for his running mate, took at least five real estate loans totaling more than $7 million from Countrywide Financial Corp. through an informal program for friends of the company’s CEO, Angelo Mozilo, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. The Journal said at least two of the mortgages, among a series of loans made available to people Countrywide officials called “friends of Angelo,” were at rates below market averages, though it is difficult to predict a market rate without access to nonpublic information about a borrower’s credit history and other factors that can reduce interest charges on a loan.

Among the loans to Mr. Johnson, according to the Journal, were a $5 million home equity line of credit against a house in Ketchum, Idaho, a 5.25% loan of $1.3 million for a home in Palm Desert, Calif., and a 3.875% loan of $971,650 for a home in Washington, D.C. The interest rates applied for the first five years of the loans.

“That reeks most high,” a public relations specialist and vocal critic of Mr. Mozilo, Bonnie Russell of Del Mar, Calif., said. “Where’s the ‘change to believe in’ if they’re playing the same old game using the same old players?”

On the campaign trail, Mr. Obama has criticized Countrywide’s executives. “These are the people who are responsible for infecting the economy and helping to create a home foreclosure crisis. Two million people may end up losing their homes,” Mr. Obama said in March at a town hall meeting in Lancaster, Pa.

The Chicago Tribune reported that the senator from Illinois “fumed” over a total of $19 million in bonuses set to be paid to Mr. Mozilo and the president of Countrywide, David Sambol. “They get a $19 million bonus while people are at risk of losing their home. What’s wrong with this picture?” Mr. Obama asked.

No word from the campaign on whether Mr. Johnson has responded to Mr. Obama’s question.

Mostly in Illinois. That cuts no ice in D.C.

Who fits the bill? Beats me.