Obama Is "chicken - - - -," Boehner Cusses

The AP is crying fowl on John Boehner for going barnyard on Barack Obama for his "present" votes in the Illinois state senate.

OXFORD, Ohio (AP) -- House Republican leader John Boehner has used a vulgar expression to refer to Democrat Barack Obama and his voting record in the Illinois legislature.

While campaigning for Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Wednesday, Boehner told a small crowd at a bar in Oxford that failing to vote ''yes'' or ''no'' on an issue meant a lawmaker was a ''chickens---,''

The Ohio congressman said the last thing the country needs is to have a ''chicken'' in the White House. The comments, first reported in the Miami University of Ohio's student newspaper, alluded to Obama's record of voting ''present'' 129 times as a state lawmaker.