"He was a part-time state senator for a few years, and then he came to the Senate and immediately started running for president," she said. "And that's his prerogative. That's his right. But I think it is important to compare and contrast our records."
At first, I thought Clinton had it all wrong. The Illinois General Assembly is typically considered a full-time legislature, as NCSL's helpful primer on the subject indicates.
However, in Obama's particular case, the accusation appears to be true. While serving in Springfield, he was also a lecturer at the University of Chicago School of Law and, at least nominally, held a position with a law firm.
It seems slightly surreal to me that part-time state legislatures are a presidential campaign issue, even a minor one. If Obama responds by praising the tradition of part-time citizen lawmakers and Clinton fires back that full-time professional legislatures are essential given the complexity of contemporary state policy and the need to check the power of other branches of government, I'll know I'm dreaming.
