Obama's Action Speaks, Too

"Barack Obama is all talk, no action." That phrase, and all its many variations, has become a bumper-sticker of sorts in our current campaign. It's meant to forward a perception of Obama in contrast to that of his rivals, Hillary Clinton and John McCain. While the former writes the songs that make the young girls cry, the latter two have actually done things that have helped peoples' lives. You encounter this sentiment on message boards across the country. Obama makes pretty speeches, the thinking goes, but doesn't offer real solutions.

An examination of Obama's time in both the Illinois Legislature and the United States Senate, however, does not exactly show a man who spends all of his time writing Manillow-inspired poetry.


In an earlier piece, I compared the legislation that both Clinton and Obama proposed in 2007. Hilzoy, writing at The Daily Dish, goes even deeper into what has kept Mr. Obama busy in Congress. Further information on Obama's record in the Senate can be found at Congresspedia. Indeed, if you actually take the time to examine what bills he's worked on, his tenure in the Senate stacks up favorably in comparison to that of Clinton and McCain.

The "empty" words knock on Obama stems from a phenomenon in politics known as "attack your oponent's strength." Because Obama gives really good speeches, Clinton decided to try and diminish them with a flimsy plagiarism charge. Judging from the boos in the audience at last night's democratic debate, that hasn't gone over too well.

My advice to voters is simple. Go look up the legislative priorities of each Senator. The good people at Project Vote Smart have made it easy.

Here's Hillary Clinton's record.
Here's Barack Obama's.
And here's John McCain's.

It's a pretty laborious process, which explains why campaign speeches tend toward general (and, yes, inspirational) themes. If you take the time to slog through the actual record, I think you'll find three candidates who are much more than mere words.

UPDATE: The Chicago Tribune has also looked specifically at each candidate's stump speeches, and has concluded that Obama's address specific policy proposals every bit as much as his rivals.