Interesting article in the Washington Post today about how Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama tend to overstate their role in certain legislative accomplishments. This certainly isn\’t anything new – in his book \”Congress: The Electoral Connection,\” political scientist David Mayhew actually makes the case that \”credit claiming\” is one of the three most important roles of members of Congress. He defines \”credit claiming\” as \”acting so as to generate a belief in a relevant political actor that one is personally responsible for causing the government, or some unit thereof, to do something that the actor considers desirable.\”

In any event, the Post article uses several sources to clarify the two senators\’ roles in the formulation of certain legislation (apparently, Arlen Specter has a lot of time on his hands to talk to Washington Post reporters.) Of course, when discussing Hillary Clinton\’s travel schedule, the Post goes to the only definitive source on Clinton travel:

Clinton also has her share of colleagues only too willing scrutinize her claims. Her campaign Web site describes Clinton\’s \”successful effort to create\” the popular State Children\’s Health Insurance Program during her husband\’s tenure in the White House, and she has placed herself in the middle of major international events, including the Northern Ireland peace process and the Balkan conflict.

But prominent Democratic senators, Irish historians and even Sinbad the comedian, who accompanied Clinton to Kosovo, are challenging some of her assertions.

Wait… what?

So the Post was like, \”We think Hillary Clinton is full of it. Get Sinbad on the phone!\” Was it Sinbad\’s role in \”First Kid\” that made him an expert on presidential travel?

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For those still questioning the veracity of Sinbad\’s story, just remember – HE AIN\’T LYIN!