His Missouri constituents might be asking just that. The Hill reports that the Missouri congressman has missed 162 House votes this year, which amounts to a whopping 85%. It would appear that representing the people who duly elected him is taking a back seat to his Presidential aspirations.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has seized on the absenteeism to point out that several of Gephardt's missed votes have been on legislative and policy matters that are centerpieces to his campaign.

In his closing statement at the South Carolina debate earlier this month, for example, Gephardt listed the creation of "an Apollo II program to make us independent of foreign oil in 10 years" as one of his top legislative priorities.

Gephardt has missed every vote on energy-related issues this session.

Well, that only stands to reason. After all, he doesn't want to risk having our 'energy crisis' solved too soon. Certainly not before next November.