Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been busy on the campaign trail - so busy he's missed the 2nd most votes in the U.S. Senate.
McCain has missed about 33 percent of the 126 votes in the Senate this session, according to The Washington Post's Vote Database.
Only Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D. has missed more, after suffering a brain hemorrhage in December.
But McCain has not abandoned his role as senator, said Melissa Shuffield, McCain's spokeswoman.
"Sen. McCain continues to be committed to his duties in the Senate and to the state of Arizona," she said, but didn't elaborate further.
Former Arizona Sen. Dennis DeConcini said McCain's situation is typically understood and tolerated for presidential hopefuls, though he doesn't agree.
"I'm no fan of John McCain's, but I doubt it's exceptional," he said. "But you were elected to be a senator, there's no question about that. That should be their main obligation."
During the 102nd and 103rd congresses, DeConcini missed 2.9 percent of the 1,274 votes, while McCain missed 3.6 percent.
"Their defense is, 'When it really comes down to something for Arizona ... I'll be there,'" DeConcini said. "But there's a lot of votes in the Senate that don't effect your state and are still important. When you're not there, you're not there."
This term, McCain has the distinction of also missing the most votes out of all presidential candidates who have filed with the Federal Election Commission or formed an exploratory committee and are in the U.S. Congress.
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., has missed the second most votes, about 26 percent of the 126 and senators Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., have missed the least with 2.4 percent each.
The loyal constituents don't really mind the missed votes, said Patrick Kenney, political science department chair.
"They support him anyway and are hoping for him to run at a nationwide level," he said. "As long as he's there for votes most related to Arizona, the loyal constituents are OK with it."
McCain has missed one key vote that was listed on the Post's Database. The vote on March 15 was regarding a phased redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq within 120 days of the resolution's passing.
McCain and Johnson were the only members not to vote - and the resolution failed with a 48-50 vote.
While missing votes isn't uncommon and other candidates will likely start missing more in the future, there could be other reasons for McCain's absence, Kenney said.
"He might already know he might not run again for the Senate," he said. "Or it's more of a reflection of McCain being in a worse situation than he thought he'd be in."
In a Gallup Poll conducted April 2 to 5 asking whom those polled would support for the republican nomination for president, McCain received 16 percent.
McCain dropped 6 percent from the same poll conducted March 23 to 25.
The poll had a margin of error of +/- 5 and showed former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani leading with 38 percent.
The presidential campaign can't be the only reason McCain hasn't been voting, said Sam Baldwin, a political science and journalism and mass communication sophomore.
"It's certainly not impossible to campaign and vote," he said.
But no matter the reason, McCain isn't doing his job if he's not voting, Baldwin said.
"It does little good to elect officials when they don't vote," he said.
Reach the reporter at: matthew.g.stone@asu.edu.
