While I typically don't use the Washington Times as a source, the statistics in today's article are just that - statistics.

 

As we draw closer to the election, we are presented with arguments with both campaigns claiming how they will unite the country. The Obama camp has been using the slogans of hope, change and "change we can believe in." The McCain camp, on the other hand, has been running on the change of being Mavericks.

 

This is now a change election, but the type of change America is looking for is important. The arguments against each are that Obama's change would not necessarily be for the better, and that McCain's change isn't really change, but more of the same.

 

While political ads and rhetoric from candidates and surrogates on the campaign trail tend to be...misleading...the votes are not. By comparing apples to apples - McCain's tenure in the Senate during the same period of Obama, we can see the willingness to work with the other side:

Mr. McCain has led as chief sponsor of 82 bills, on which he had 120 Democratic co-sponsors out of 220 total, for an average of 55 percent. He worked with Democrats on 50 of his bills, and of those, 37 times Democrats outnumber Republicans as co-sponsors.

 

Mr. Obama, meanwhile, sponsored 120 bills, of which Republicans co-sponsored just 26, and on only five bills did Republicans outnumber Democrats. Mr. Obama gained 522 total Democratic co-sponsors but only 75 Republicans, for an average of 13 percent of his co-sponsors.

 

Finally, a stark difference between the two candidates is seen not only on who they work with, but how often they go against the party standard:

Over his Senate career, Mr. McCain has voted with the majority of Senate Republicans about 85 percent of the time, while in his three years in the Senate Mr. Obama has voted with his party 97 percent of the time.

While neither candidate is completely independent - we all lean a certain way on issues - Senator McCain has proven to not only work with Democrats more often, but to also go against the party line more frequently as well. Of course, many with a vested interest will find any way to equate John McCain with George Bush no matter what the facts say.