In an early preview of the general election - Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton just voted in favor of Sen. Jim Webb's new GI Bill of Rights.

Guess who skipped the vote?

That's right, Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, who this afternoon is campaigning in California.

I imagine the Democrats are going to have a field day with this one.

UPDATE, 1:30: As if on cue, the DNC blasts a press release under this headline: "McCain Puts Politics Ahead of Our Troops and Veterans...Again"

Washington, DC - While John McCain was campaigning and raising money in California today, the Senate voted on a bipartisan to bill to support our brave men and women in uniform by helping them pay for college when they complete their service. Unlike both Democratic presidential candidates, who took time off the campaign trail to support our troops by voting for the 21st Century GI Bill, Senator McCain refused.

Senator McCain might not have voted, but he has made his views perfectly clear. Instead of joining the 75 senators from both parties who voted for the bill and just about every major veterans group--all of which supported it--Senator McCain chose to echo the Bush Administration's opposition. Senator McCain claimed the bill would provide too much incentive for the brave men and women who volunteered to serve after 9/11 to leave the armed forces, even though a Congressional Budget Office study found that the bill's impact on retention would be offset by a matching increase in recruitment. Senator McCain offered a watered down version of the bill that would have offered a reduced benefit and required many veterans to pay out of their own pockets to receive it.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement on John McCain's refusal to support our veterans and military families:

"America's veterans and military families deserve better than a candidate who is willing to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years, but refuses to take care of them when they come home. The men and women in who volunteer to put on the uniform of the United States of America risk their lives to defend our freedoms, and we should do everything we can to help them be successful when they come home. While Senator McCain talks about supporting our troops and veterans on the campaign trail, his real record tells a much different story. While we honor his service to our country, Senator McCain's double talk on veterans' benefits is one more reason he is the wrong choice for America's future."

— Christina Bellantoni, national political reporter, The Washington Times