By AP/KWMU
Chicago, Ill. – The presidential campaign is increasingly taking Illinois U.S. Senator Barack Obama away from his work in Washington.
The Senate has taken 238 votes this year. Obama missed 23, or about 10% of them.
It's not as bad as some other presidential hopefuls like Senator John McCain, who's missed about half the votes, or Sam Brownback who's missed almost a third.
But compare Obama's record to Senator Hillary Clinton, who's only missed six, and it doesn't look so great.
A spokesperson from Obama's office, Ben LaBolt, says the demands of the campaign will only increase as the primaries approach. LaBolt does say the Senator has made close and important votes when he needed to.
Some of the votes Obama missed this year included measures tied to immigration reform and clean energy.
Illinois' other U.S. Senator, Dick Durbin, has missed just three votes so far this year.