Where Was McCain For Stimulus Vote?

By Martin Kady II

(The Politico)  With 99 senators voting on the economic stimulus package and Democrats one vote short of their goal, some of them wondered:

Where is the Democrats' favorite Republican?

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was actually in Washington _ his plane landed at Dulles Airport by 5 p.m., leaving plenty of time to make the 5:45 p.m. make or break procedural vote, according to Politico's Jonathan Martin.

But while hard core conservative critics of McCain might fear he'd join Democrats and vote for an expansive economic stimulus package opposed by GOP leadership, McCain's office says he wouldn't have helped Democrats on the bill.

"As you know, it was a procedural vote _ so his absence would not have affected the outcome as he would have opposed cloture," McCain spokeswoman Melissa Shuffield wrote in an e-mail to Politico.

So McCain could have added one more "no" vote and exhibited Republican unity as he seeks to nail down the Republican presidential nomination. Shuffield did not explain where McCain actually was instead of the Senate floor.

Democratic White House hopefuls Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) both made it to the Senate floor and voted "yes" on the economic bill, which now stands in limbo thanks to Republican opposition.
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