The Times had a front page headline yesterday, “Obama’s Vote in Illinois Was Often Just ‘Present.’”

Call me an Obama shill (I am), but I have an itch to scratch: the article states that then-State Senator Obama used the “Present” vote to register disapproval of measures he found unconstitutional or by party instruction “nearly 130 times.” A bit later, it’s mentioned that Obama campaign officials say the senator cast 4,000 votes as a state senator, a number which the Times doesn’t refute.

So 130 - well, 129 divided by 4,000 equals: 3.2%.

How often is “often”?