What does "I've fought for..." mean?

[Muttocracy]

That may sound like a dumb question, but whenever a candidate says they fought for X, I'm not sure what that means. Filed a lawsuit on behalf of it? Argued for it in court? Wrote legislation for it? Cosponsored legislation on it? Made speeches about it? Voted for someone else's bill? Did volunteer work for it? Punched some other guy who was going to stop it? (when was the last time there was a physical brawl in Congress?)

I guess I'm asking because the lack of experience of both Hillary and Barack makes me nervous, particularly against McCain, who will win the "experience" argument if voters have a simplistic view of it. In December we happened to be interviewing for a job at my office, and as I read through some resumes they reminded me of fluffy campaign speeches - flowery language about doing things they hadn't really done or couldn't take credit for, or just making it sound like when they were sorting the mail they were running the company.

I like it better when I hear specifically what a candidate did. Am I the only one who gets annoyed by the I fought for blah blah rhetoric?

[anonymous171]

1. Translation: I've sponsored a bill related to that subject.