Barack Obama's 143 Days of Experience

On May 5th, a conservative strategist named Cheri Jacobus stated in a blog post that Barack Obama had only 143 days of experience in the Senate before embarking on his Presidential campaign.

Jacobus's post read, in it's entirety:

"Just how much Senate experience does Barack Obama have in terms of actual work days? Not much.

From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United State Senator, to the time he announced he was forming a Presidential exploratory committee, he logged 143 days of experience in the Senate. That's how many days the Senate was actually in session and working.

After 143 days of work experience, Obama believed he was ready to be Commander In Chief, Leader of the Free World, and fill the shoes of Abraham Lincoln, FDR, JFK and Ronald Reagan.

143 days -- I keep leftovers in my refrigerator longer than that.

In contrast, John McCain's 26 years in Congress, 22 years of military service including 1,966 days in captivity as a POW in Hanoi now seem more impressive than ever. At 71, John McCain may just be hitting his stride"

The assertion that Barack Obama has only 143 days of experience is now regularly quoted in blog posts and emails as a fact. Where are the facts that support this claim? How did Jacobus arrive at a total of 143 days? Unfortunately, she did not provide any supporting information, nor does the original blog post allow for comments for questions.

Here are some facts and links to sources. Read them and form your own opinion.

1) Cheri Jacobus posted her article on The Loft, the blog for GOPUSA, on May 5, 2008 :

www.gopusa.com/theloft/?p=707

2) Barack Obama took the oath of office for the Senate on January 4, 2005:

obama.senate.gov/about/

3) Barack Obama announced his presidential exploratory committee on January 16, 2007:

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16652674/

4) Barack Obama made his formal announcement speech on February 10, 2007:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IHvOYY6feI

5) The US Senate was in session for the following number of days since Barack Obama took office:

2005 - 136 days
2006 - 136 days
2007 - 180 days
2008 - 136 days as of Sept 12

thomas.loc.gov/home/ds/

6) Barack Obama missed 301 of 1282 roll call votes (23%) since Jan 6, 2005. This total breaks down by year as follows:

2005 - 8 of 365 (2.19%)
2006 - 3 of 279 (1.08%)
2007 - 166 of 442 (37.56%)
2008 - 290 of 638 as of Sept 12 (45.45%)

www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=400629&tab=votes

Do the math. Can you figure out where the 143 days came from?

The 2006 Congressional session consisted of 136 days and Barack Obama announced his exploratory committee on the 7th day of the 2007 Congressional sesison. That adds up to 143, right? Is that where the number came from?

Did Cheri Jacobus simply overlook the fact that Barack Obama was elected in 2004? Did she intentionally omit his first year in the Senate because she thinks it doesn't "count" for some reason that she didn't state? Did she base her calculation on something else entirely?

The most interesting part of this story is not determining the "real" number, but how easily this claim turned into a "fact" that people are quoting without researching what's behind the number. There's no apparent basis in fact, yet it's spreading like a bad rash. Are people really so gullible that they'll believe anything they read on the internet or in a mass-forward email?

Perhaps Cheri Jacobus is a very smart political operative who knows that people will believe just about anything they read and discrediting a presidential candidate is as easy as posting something on a blog.