* Some of you know that I was interviewed by NPR yesterday. They wanted to talk about Barack Obama’s “Present” votes in the Illinois Senate. The issue has become a contentious one on the campaign trail…

“In the Illinois State Senate, Senator Obama voted 130 times ‘present,’” [Hillary Clinton said in Monday night’s debate]. “That’s not ‘yes.’ That’s not ‘no.’ That’s ‘maybe.’”

* Here’s part of what I told the NPR reporter…

To register a vote in the Illinois General Assembly, lawmakers have a choice of three buttons on their desk. The “yes” button is green. The “no” button is red, and the “present” button is yellow, says Rich Miller, who writes and publishes The Capitol Fax, a daily newsletter and blog on Illinois politics.

“There’s a saying in Springfield that there’s a reason why the present button is yellow,” Miller says.

But Miller says that not all “present” votes are cowardly, including those cast by then-state Sen. Obama.

“After having put some thought into it, I don’t think that Barack Obama was necessarily a coward for voting present on those bills. In fact, I think he believed that he was doing the right thing, because something, in his mind, might have been unconstitutional,” Miller says.

Miller points out that, at times, Obama was the only lawmaker voting “present” on bills winning near unanimous support, even on issues he supported and on one he sponsored.

* The rest ended up on the cutting-room floor. What I tried to get across was that Obama kinda hovered over everything when he was in Springfield. He seemed to play by his own rules, which he appeared to believe were more thoughtful or ethical than everyone else’s.

So, to his mind, voting “Present” on some of those bills was wholly justified. Whether it was part of an organized effort by abortion rights groups, or because he thought something in the bill was unconstitutional, or whatever, I think he believed he was doing the right thing.

The problem is that he has to answer for those votes in the real world, not in his own mind. Clinton is using a very common political attack. It’s happened many times before in Illinois, and will happen again.

The bottom line is Obama likes to think too much. He’s enamored with his own intellect to the point where he does things that don’t make political sense, like voting in the US Senate against an interest rate cap on credit cards because the cap was too high. Well, that was the only cap on the table. He should’ve known he was gonna get raked on that one.

He talks about bringing people together and finding concensus, but that usually means taking a somewhat distasteful vote when the final product hits the bricks. Too often, he gets all high-minded and decides he won’t play the game he signed up for.

* Meanwhile, the Sun-Times has been going wall-to-wall on Tony Rezko lately, and today was no exception…

* 8 things you need to know about Obama and Rezko

* Mark Brown: Time for Obama to come clean - To dismiss Rezko as ’somebody who I knew’ just isn’t going to cut it

* Why do civil rights heroes cheer ‘Rezko card’?

* Hope hype won’t get us anywhere

* ArchPundit is doing the same thing, but in a less hyper manner. Go check it out here.

* Larry also has video from Lorna Brett, the former Chicago NOW president who had been supporting Hillary Clinton. Brett claims she was angered by Clinton’s attacks on Obama on the choice issue, which is directly related to Obama’s “Present” votes. Brett is now endorsing Obama.