Republican presidential candidate John McCain got a score of zero from the League of Conservation Voters for his voting record on environmental issues in Congress in 2007 — not because he voted against environmental protections, but because he simply didn’t show up to vote. McCain missed all 15 of the Senate votes that LCV counted in compiling its annual congressional scorecard, the only member of Congress with such a dismal attendance record. All of the presidential candidates who are currently serving in Congress took hits to their scores due to campaigning that often kept them from environmental votes, but McCain did worse than the other front-runners. (In fact, McCain earned an even lower score than some members of Congress who had terminal illnesses or died during the session. Read more about McCain’s missed votes and environmental record.) Overall, McCain’s lifetime score from LCV is 24 percent. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton edged out Barack Obama with 73 percent for 2007 compared to Obama’s 67; the average across Congress in 2007 was 53 percent. LCV gives Clinton an 87 percent for her whole Senate career, barely ahead of Obama’s lifetime score of 86 percent.
