During his first speech of the general election in St. Paul tonight, Barack Obama fired a predictable opening shot at McCain: “While John McCain can legitimately tout moments of independence from his party in the past, such independence has not been the hallmark of his presidential campaign. It’s not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush ninety-five percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year.” Can Obama honestly claim that he’s ever had a streak of independence at any point in his career? The McCain camp sent out an email tonight pointing out that, according to Congressional Quarterly, McCain voted with his party between 70 and 90 percent of the time since President Bush took office. In contrast, Obama voted with the Democratic party 97 percent of the time in 2007, 96 percent of the time in 2006, and 97 percent of the time in 2005. And Obama somehow intends to usher in a new age of post-partisanship?
