The latest attack by the Obama campaign on Clinton boils down to “she copies my votes”. From the Huffington Post:

“Democratic leaders are starting to count on Barack Obama for delivering two votes in the Senate - his and Senator Clinton’s,” Obama’s spokesperson Ben Labolt told the Huffington Post on Thursday.

The comments echoed remarks on Wednesday by Obama’s communications guru David Axelrod, who was asked on Hardball whether the senator would have voted for the contentious Kyl-Lieberman resolution — which designates Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization — had he not been on the campaign trail.

“Absolutely not,” Axelrod declared. “He made that clear that day. And I venture to say that had he been there and voting on that perhaps Senator Clinton would not have voted that way either because, you know, Chris, lately every time he votes, she seems to vote after him, and seems to vote the same way. So maybe we could have spared her

This is an interesting idea considering an article written at the start of the year showing Clinton & Obama had cast different votes 40 times since Obama had been in the Senate. So a sudden rise in Clinton emulating her Senate colleagues votes would be interesting.

What I actually find more interesting is that it seems on controversial issues Barack Obama is actually abstaining and then attacking Clinton for taking a position. For instance, he has attacked Clinton heavily on the Kyl-Lieberman resolution which Axelrod mentions in the above quote. The campaign is now saying “Clinton may have only voted that way because Obama wasn’t there to tell her which way to go.” But in reality, Obama wasn’t on the record at all by abstaining. One could make the argument that he did not vote waiting to see how Clinton would and then attacked her on it.

Similarly is the topic of immigration, which Obama attacked Clinton on. Obama abstained from a vote on Border Fence and Customs Appropriations, Clinton voted for it. Meanwhile Obama avoided a “REAL ID Funding” bill, Clinton voted for it.

Clinton voted against an amendment condeming MoveOn.org, which was used against her by Republicans. Obama abstained even though he made a much less controversial vote moments before it.

Obama also avoided a vote “Expressing Support for General Petraeus and All Members of the Armed Forces” which Clinton voted against. Obama avoided the controversial “Attorney General No Confidence Vote“, Clinton voted for it. A vote “Sense of the Senate on Guantanamo Bay Detainees” was avoided by Obama and yes, follow the patter, was voted for by Clinton.

Obama was also a no-show on the “Department of Homeland Security Appropriations“, Clinton voted for it.

On votes relating to the military, homeland security, illegal immigration and the Justice Department Obama was silent while Clinton put herself on the record. As Obama and the other democrats heaped scorn upon Clinton for her position on many of these bill, Senator Obama abstained from being on the official record, later giving his position on talk shows and in press releases, but not on the Senate record.