‘I missed the vote’ (for family reasons)

Sen. Susan Collins’ campaign has attacked challenger Tom Allen, a current U.S. Representative, for missing 144 votes in his 12 years in Congress.

Collins has continually touted her perfect voting record in her 12 years in the Senate.

The Maine Democrats hit back this week, criticizing a You Tube video highlighting Allen’s missed votes. It is not clear who produced the video, which features Allen saying “I missed the vote” over and over as the titles of 34 missed votes are displayed.

However, according to one political science expert, the whole argument is frivolous.

Six of the votes noted in the video Allen missed because of personal reasons – the death of his parents and to be with his sick wife, writes Arden Manning, executive director of the Maine Democratic Party, in a press release.

"Senator Collins wants to debate labels and numbers instead of the issues at stake. Tom Allen's voting attendance record of 98 percent is solid, with votes against invading Iraq, against harmful Bush economic policies, against big giveaways to Big Oil and Gas, and on behalf of Mainers," said Peter Chandler, party coordinated campaign manager, in the release.

Steve Abbott, campaign manager for Collins, however, said it’s not the votes Allen missed for family reasons that are concerning.

“The press release seems like an almost pathetic attempt to deflect attention away from the fact that Congressman Allen has skipped many votes for reasons such as fundraisers, all expense paid trips, and sporting events, to name a few,” Abbott wrote in an e-mail. “When you put those kinds of events ahead of showing up for work, you can see why people would wonder about your priorities.”

L. Sandy Maisel, a government professor at Colby College, calls the whole issue trivial and deceptive.

Allen missed more votes, but also needed to cast more, Maisel said.

The Democratic Party notes that in Allen’s time in the House, he has cast about 7,020 votes, compared to Collins’ 3,700 in the Senate.

While senators vote more, many of their votes are done by hand instead of roll call so they aren’t recorded, Maisel said. In the House, members are alerted to the important votes and given plenty of notice.

Family conflicts are just one valid reason to miss votes, Maisel said, sometimes committee work also needs to come first.

“Whoever is doing the attacking is deceiving the American public,” Maisel said.