Campaigning Paul Misses 92% of House Votes

Ron Paul hasn't exactly been making an effort to keep up with his day job while he's on the campaign trail. The Texas congressman has missed a whopping 91.8% of roll call votes so far in 2012, the Hill reports, based on GovTrack.us figures. While it's not unusual for presidential candidates to shirk legislative duties—Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama rarely voted during the 2008 primary—Paul's rate represents a new high for the frequent candidate.

At one point, from Jan. 19 to Feb. 27, Paul missed 69 votes in a row. Part of the reason may be that Paul has already announced that he's not running for reelection. "In general, legislators try to keep their participation rates exceedingly high, since no one wants a challenger running an ad against him/her for missing votes," one political scientist explains. But given Paul's presidential run and impending departure, "I doubt he’s worried about being attacked for failing to show up for work." (More Ron Paul stories.)