110th Scorecard Shows Party Line Voting; Senate Bills Faced Filibusters

The NOW 110th Congressional Scorecard of key votes of interest to women illustrates how closely both the House and Senate members were divided along party lines. With 235 Democrats and 199 Republicans (and one vacancy, at the beginning of this Congress) in the lower body, and the 49-49 tie with 2 Independents in the Senate, progress on progressive initiatives was limited. Additionally, important legislation supported by NOW failed to overcome the Senate's 60 vote requirement for ending a filibuster, which kept many bills from going to a floor vote.

In terms of Senate votes, the presidential candidates' records were in stark contrast. On a bill to promote fetal rights under the State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) voted Yes, while Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) voted No. Sen. McCain opposed increasing the federal minimum wage and Sen. Obama supported the increase. Both supported health care coverage for pregnant women under SCHIP and federal funding of research on embryonic stem cells. Both candidates missed a number of key votes in 2008; overall Sen. McCain was not present for nine of our scored votes, voted incorrectly on five and correct on two. Sen. Obama was recorded as not voting on five of the scored measures and had eleven correct votes.

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The House of Representatives scorecard and the Senate scorecard