Per FactCheck.org the '143 days' assertion comes from an unverified source originally cited on a right-leaning blog. The purported number only includes days where Obama voted; U.S. Senators, however, work many days where they don't vote. The unverified assertion also takes into account only the days Obama purportedly voted before he announced a presidential exploratory committee on January 16, 2007; he served in the Senate for two more years.
FactCheck.org, October 3, 2008:
[T]he count given for Obama's working days is wrong. It doesn't count any days for Obama since he announced a presidential exploratory committee, and it's unclear whether the count is correct for any measure. One conservative blogger told us she got the number from "some young guy in the Senate..."
The earliest, dated authored reference containing the "143 days" number is a May 2008 post by Cheri Jacobus of the right-leaning blog The Loft. The post reads:
Jacobus: 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.
Wrong. That's not the number of days the Senate was in session. From the time Obama was sworn in on Jan. 3, 2005, until the day he announced his exploratory committee on Jan. 16, 2007, the Senate was in session 304 days, according to the Secretary of the Senate's official count.
When we called to ask Jacobus how she arrived at her count, she called back and left a message saying the number was provided by "some young guy in the Senate" who gave her an "advanced calendar," and that he was looking at the number of days the Senate was "actually voting." Jacobus also said that she is "not a journalist" and that it has "been quite a while" since she wrote the post. We called and left a message with Jacobus in an attempt to follow-up for more details, but we have yet to hear back. [1]
Even limiting the assertion to the number of days Obama purportedly voted in the Senate -- as opposed to the working as a Senator -- before his exploratory committee announcement on January 16, 2007, the '143 days' number still appears suspect. From January 2005 to December 2006 Obama cast 645 Senate votes (and missed 11 votes, or 1.7%). While theoretically possible, that's a lot of votes for someone who purportedly voted only 143 days during that time period. [2]
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Did Obama have more elective office experience than Lincoln when he ran for president?
Is Obama the youngest president to take office?
Did Obama have the worst attendance record in the 110th U.S. Senate?
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Did McCain have the worst attendance record in the 110th U.S. Senate?
Would McCain be the oldest president to take office, if elected?
Did McCain imply Palin's experience isn't enough to be president?
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[1] Kolawole, Emi. How long have Obama and McCain been in Congress? FactCheck.org. October 3, 2008
[2] The U.S. Congress Votes Database. 109th Congress / Senate / Members who missed votes. Washington Post
