Wednesday the US Senate voted 97-1 to override President Obama’s veto of the 9/11 families bill allowing surviving family members from the 9/11 terrorist attacks to sue the government of Saudi Arabia.

This was a critical moment for the US Senate. A veto override is not a small undertaking, especially on an issue of such importance. So how each senator stands on this issue is important and instructive.

So, what to make of the fact that one senator skipped the vote altogether? And what to make of the fact that this senator is the Democratic Party’s nominee for Vice President?

That’s right, Virginia’s Tim Kaine weaseled out of the vote and claimed he didn’t put his name to a vote because he was too busy campaigning. And he was. He was campaigning less than 10 miles away, across the Potomac River in Alexandria, VA.

Yup. The Charles Houston Recreation Center is about 8 miles from the US Senate if you take the Memorial Bridge, but you could also cross at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and head up 295.

But Kaine couldn’t fit it into his schedule. Instead, he had to campaign in Virginia, the state we were told was already in the bag for Hillary Clinton when she chose the Old Dominion senator as her running mate.

So why did a campaign event take precedence over the historic, first ever veto override President Obama? Nobody knows. He said nothing and the Clinton campaign had no comment on the matter.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said in a statement on behalf of GOP nominee Donald Trump, “The failure of Hillary Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine, who was obviously afraid to show up to work today and stand with these Americans, is a disgrace.”