Tulsi Gabbard didn't vote.

[MelissaB]

House overwhelmingly votes bipartisan condemnation of Trump withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria.

All Republicans in the "no" column.

Gabbard didn't vote.

Nunes rather surprisingly voted "yes".

The rest of Trump's high-profile lickspittles voted "no"...

Link to tweet

[underpants]

1. She's an operative

That's been clear for a while.

[dweller]

2. anyone surprised?

<crickets>

✌🏼

[Claritie Pixie]

3. Last night, used Putin's talking points about regime change in Syria. No surprise she didn't vote.

Go away Tulsi.

[guillaumeb]

4. Recommended.

And illuminating.

[thesquanderer]

19. Not so illuminating. Tulsi's got 99 problems, but this ain't one of them.

People who campaign for president miss votes. Look how many votes Senators Sanders/Warren/Harris/Klobuchar/Booker have missed.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/presidential-candidates

[MrsCoffee]

21. Nice try at making excuses.

She has shown her true colors so many times no amount of spin can wash it away. How fucking “misunderstood” do her past pro Assad comments seem now?

This is beyond disgusting and disqualifying. Not that she ever stood a chance.

[thesquanderer]

27. Harris has missed 85% of her votes during this campaign. What's your excuse for that, then?

At least Gabbard has only missed 45% of hers. But yes, she missed all the October 16 votes including this one. She happened to be at the debate in Ohio the night before.

My point here is not about Gabbard, it's to say that missing votes is a bogus knock on any candidate. They miss votes all the time (and at least this was merely a "statement" resolution and one that was absolutely going to pass anyway).

There are legit reasons you can knock Gabbard... not showing up in DC on Thursday after the late debate on Wednedsay and missing this vote ain't one of 'em.

[MrsCoffee]

30. Being an Assad apologist is another.

[relayerbob]

5. She just kissed her political career goodbyt

[brush]

6. IMO her and trump are both Russian assets. She must know there are suspicions about her.

Abstaining from that vote just raises the level of suspicion. I guess she knows someone is keeping tabs on her actions.

[SMC22307]

7. Neither did Cummings, Omar or Speier. Interesting. (n/t)

[PDittie]

16. I think

Elijah Cummings had a pretty good excuse.

(Rest in Power, Congressman.)

[SMC22307]

37. Yeah, I saw that this morning.

So sad, but a good life lived.

[bluestarone]

8. When she mentioned Gowdys name

she lost my respect

[Cha]

9. Wow! nunes voted yes! What's

TG's agenda here?

[dalton99a]

10. It is very telling.

It is actually disgusting

[Cha]

11. Yeah, I hope Kai Kahele jumps on

this and states how he would have voted if he were in Congress!

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[MBS]

20. Thanks so much for this information.

I'm so glad someone is mounting a primary challenge against her.
I'm going to go donate $ to Kahele right now.

[Cha]

35. Mahalo to you, MBS!

[FM123]

28. Kai Kahele sounds wonderful! Wish I was in Hawaii (for a million reasons) I'd vote for him!

[Cha]

36. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it!

[Celerity]

12. Was she even in Washington DC? She had the debate until late last night. nt

[MrsCoffee]

22. Lol.

[Celerity]

24. what is funny?

I was asking a serious question, not having a laugh.

[MrsCoffee]

25. It's like an hour maybe hour and a half flight.

Making excuses for an Assad apologist is funny.

[Celerity]

26. Asking a question is not making excuses, and many of the POTUS candidates have missed

votes due to campaigning.

[MrsCoffee]

29. There was a question.

There was also a follow up that sure seemed like an excuse.

I guess I’ll pretend I didn’t see it again in this reply.

[Celerity]

31. what reply? I asked a question and you and some deleted response where the only 2 replies

My only reply was



which certainly is not 'making excuses'

[MrsCoffee]

32. Twice.

Mentioning that she had a late debate and mentioning that other presidential candidates have missed votes.

Both are attempts to excuse her missing a vote that emphasizes her pro-Assad stance.

She could have put her actions behind the words she had on stage. It's an hour/hour and a half flight. Instead she showed who she really is. Again.

[Celerity]

34. no, and your trying to accuse me making excuses and/or inferring I somehow support Gabbard is

pure tosh.

By the way, I had already forgotten and moved on from my orginal question, but your replies got me back searching and I found the answer myself. She was not in DC (and yes, it IS a very bad thing that she did not show up, as the whole thing is supposed to be one of her signature issues, and I do suspect she is dodging the the vote):


State Sen. Kai Kahele criticizes Tulsi Gabbard for missing House vote on Syria

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287313276

State Sen. Kai Kahele (D-Hilo) is criticizing Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard for failing to show up to vote today on a House resolution that condemns President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of American forces from northern Syria. The overwhelmingly bipartisan vote in favor of the resolution by the U.S. House of Representatives was a stinging rebuke of the president’s actions, which have left America’s Kurdish allies in Syria vulnerable to attack by Turkish forces and thrown U.S. policy in the region into disarray.

Gabbard, who has been busy on the presidential campaign trail, was one of 14 representatives absent from the vote. The measure passed 354 to 60. Kahele, who is vying for Gabbard’s congressional seat, has repeatedly criticized Gabbard in recent weeks for being absent from her district.

“I support the action taken by the House today to pass this resolution,” Kahele said in a press release. “Unfortunately, the people of Hawaiʻi’s second congressional district were left without a voice because Congresswoman Gabbard, yet again, failed to show up and report to duty. “Appearing on national television the night before is not an excuse to miss work. The people of Hawai‘i deserve a representative who is committed full-time to this job.”

snip

She’s missed more than half of the votes in the House since July, according to GovTrack.us. She also hasn’t held a town hall in Hawaii since April 2017.

[boomer_wv]

13. She's...

The Rand Paul of the Democratic Party.

[UniteFightBack]

14. It's more this than this whole Russian asset nonsense. nt

[dansolo]

15. She wanted to vote no, but was a coward

If she believed everything she said in the debate, then she would have voted no. But instead of standing by her convictions, she took the cowards way out and didn't vote.

[Yoopy]

17. Or.... she lied in the debate

Think about it. She's in love with Assad and Putin, both of whom support the offensive.

[MrsCoffee]

23. Or she has shown you who she is and you just don't want to believe it.

Believe it. She is an Assad apologist.

She doesn’t belong on that stage.

[Zambero]

33. However, she had time to meet with Assad

In Gabbard's instance, a "pass" vote should be interpreted as a silent "yes".

[Gothmog]

38. House seat challenger @kaikahele beating Tulsi Gabbard with Hawaii donors

Link to tweet

[NurseJackie]

39. Unsurprising. About as unsurprising as BS voting against (or being absent) from...

Unsurprising. About as unsurprising as BS voting against (or being absent) from the votes on sanctions against Russia.

That's all I need to know.

[Gothmog]

40. Here is an interesting discussion of Kahele

This is an interesting article https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/21/politics/tulsi-gabbard-2020-hawaii-hillary-clinton/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_term=image&utm_source=twCNNp&utm_content=2019-10-22T01%3A04%3A06

But local insiders say a primary challenge from state Sen. Kai Kahele is to be taken seriously, in part because he already has high-profile support among towering local officials.

That includes three former governors in the local Democratic establishment: Neil Abercrombie, Ben Cayetano and John Waihee, who don't often appear as a bloc.

"That gives a pretty good indication of how the mainstream Democratic Party here regards her," said Colin Moore, director of the Public Policy Center at the University of Hawaii.

Kahele told CNN on Monday that his campaign had its best day of fundraising when Gabbard and Clinton clashed.
Gabbard has not formally announced a reelection bid for her House seat. Candidates have until June 2, 2020, to file for that November's election.