When it comes down to brass tacks, the most important thing you can know about a politician is how well they represent your interests.  We are fortunate this year to have a special insight into the minds of each Senator running for the office of President of the United States.  We don't have to trust all their talking the talk; we already have seen both of them walking the walk.  Beyond the hype and promises, you will know them by their voting record.

For those who claim their is little difference between the two men, I have 32 reasons that say otherwise.  For those of you who think you already know these men enough to put one in the Oval Office, I have 32 questions to ask you.

The follow issues have come before the Senate for a vote while both Barack Obama and John McCain were in attendance.  Each man voted YES or NO on these issues.  Each man voted differently from the other.  Ask yourself how you would have voted, and then compare your results with the actually voting record of the man you thought you knew.  Answers to follow . . .

I know that I will not change the minds of any hardcore liberals or harcore conservatives by this little exercise, but there are a lot of people in the middle who are still basing their vote on word of mouth information and gut feelings.  It would be nice to infuse real data into the decision-making process.  Compliments to TPM Cafe for compiling this list.

**Information is from the US Senate website. (www.senate.gov) Most of these are amendments, which means there is no "pork/earmarks" attached.**

1.    A bill to provide collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by States or their political subdivisions.
2.    To protect service members and veterans from means testing in bankruptcy, to disallow certain claims by lenders charging usurious interest rates to service members, and to allow service members to exempt property based on the law of the State of their premilitary residence.
3.    To provide a homestead floor for the elderly.
4.    To require enhanced disclosure to consumers regarding the consequences of making only minimum required payments in the repayment of credit card debt, and for other purposes.
5.    To exempt debtors whose financial problems were caused by serious medical problems from means testing.
6.    To provide protection for medical debt homeowners.
7.    To preserve existing bankruptcy protections for individuals experiencing economic distress as caregivers to ill or disabled family members.
8.    To exempt debtors from means testing if their financial problems were caused by identity theft
9.    To discourage predatory lending practices.
10.    To protect employees and retirees from corporate practices that deprive them of their earnings and retirement savings when a business files for bankruptcy.
11.    To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for an increase in the Federal minimum wage
12.    To clarify that the means test does not apply to debtors below median income.
13.    To exempt debtors whose financial problems were caused by failure to receive alimony or child support, or both, from means testing.
14.    To limit claims in bankruptcy by certain unsecured creditors.
15.    To restore funding for education programs that are cut and reduce debt by closing corporate tax loopholes.
16.    To ensure that 75-year solvency has been restored to Social Security before Congress considers new deficit-financed legislation that would increase mandatory spending or cut taxes.
17.    To express the sense of the Senate that Congress should reject any Social Security plan that requires deep benefit cuts or a massive increase in debt.
18.    To protect the American people from terrorist attacks by providing the necessary resources to our firefighters, police, EMS workers and other first-responders by restoring $1,626 billion in cuts to first-responder programs.
19.    To increase veterans medical care by $2.8 billion in 2006.
20.    To create a reserve fund for the establishment of a Bipartisan Medicaid Commission to consider and recommend appropriate reforms to the Medicaid program, and to strike Medicaid cuts to protect states and vulnerable populations
21.    To repeal the tax subsidy for certain domestic companies which move manufacturing operations and American jobs offshore.
22.    To protect the American people from terrorist attacks by restoring $565 million in cuts to vital first-responder programs in the Department of Homeland Security, including the State Homeland Security Grant program, by providing $150 million for port security grants and by providing $140 million for 1,000 new border patrol agents
23.    To expand access to preventive health care services that reduce unintended pregnancy (including teen pregnancy), reduce the number of abortions, and improve access to women's health care.
24.    To promote innovation and U.S. competitiveness by expressing the sense of the Senate urging the Senate Committee on Appropriations to make efforts to fund the Advanced Technology Program, which supports industry-led research and development of cutting-edge technologies with broad commercial potential and societal benefits.
25.    To increase funding for border security
26.    To eliminate methyl tertiary butyl ether from the United States fuel supply, to increase production and use of renewable fuel, and to increase the Nation's energy independence
27.    To improve the energy security of the United States and reduce United States dependence on foreign oil imports by 40 percent by 2025.
28.    To provide additional funding for medical services provided by the Veterans Health Administration
29.    To fund urgent priorities for our Nation's firefighters, law enforcement personnel, emergency medical personnel, and all Americans by reducing the tax breaks for individuals with annual incomes in excess of $1 million.
30.    To provide an additional $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010, to be used for readjustment counseling, related mental health services, and treatment and rehabilitative services for veterans with mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, or substance use disorder.
31.    To improve the Federal Trade Commission's ability to protect consumers from price-gouging during energy emergencies, and for other purposes.
32.    To provide additional funding for the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986 and to provide activities for latchkey children.