Barack Obama didn’t take part in meetings on immigration legislation in 2006, recalls Arlen Specter, one of the handful of senators who did, but Specter just shrugs when the Illinois Democrat says he did. “It’s not an unusual matter for senators to take a little extra credit,” Specter says—and both Obama and Hillary Clinton have taken liberal helpings so far, the Washington Post reports.
Senators often lack the clear executive accomplishments of governors; Clinton’s solution has been to tout her years as first lady, but one of her most frequently cited accomplishments—the State Children’s Health Insurance Program—didn’t have much to do with her. “If she was involved, I didn’t know about it,” said top GOP negotiator Orrin Hatch. (More Barack Obama stories.)