Originally Posted By: britneyspearsatemyshorts
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The non-partisan National Journal





that "non partisan" National Journal ranking is a joke. Funny how the most liberal" Senator always happens to be the guy running for President on the Democratic side.

The methodology used to determine that has already been scrutinized and come under ridicule.

From TIME:

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The more interesting question, though, is, Does this “most liberal” ranking actually mean anything? And the answer, once you look at the National Journal’s methodology, is not really. I say this only because I got an email from Dave Meyer, a researcher here in DC, who is one of the many usually-unnamed people who toil behind the scenes in Washington brokering in information. Here is what Meyer wrote:

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I actually browsed through the scorecard National Journal used to determine the ranking. There are precisely two scored votes where Obama took the liberal position and Clinton took the conservative. The first was Joe Lieberman's S.Amdt. 30 to S.Amdt. 3 to S.1 The Amendment was "To establish a Senate Office of Public Integrity." Here's the roll call of the 27-71 vote. Joining Obama on the "liberal" side -- meaning the side in support of Joe Lieberman's amendment -- were Republicans Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe Chuck Grassley, and John McCain.

The second was Jeff Bingaman's S.Amdt. 1267 to S.Amdt.1150 to S.1348, the Immigration Reform bill. The Amendment was "To remove the requirement that Y-1 nonimmigrant visa holders leave the United States before they are able to renew their visa." Here's the roll call of the 41-57 vote (60 votes needed to pass, so it failed by 19). Joining Obama on the "liberal' side were Richard Shelby, Chuck Hagel, and Tom Coburn.


So there you have it. Obama is more liberal than Clinton because he voted with John McCain, the most likely Republican nominee, and Tom Coburn, one of the Senate's most conservative members. Ain’t political rankings a wonderful thing.


They claim that Obama and Clinton only differed on 10 votes, but somehow Obama comes in first and Clinton is #16. Fuzzy math, I tell ya. In fact, looking at the voting chart the NJ uses to draw their conclusions, it's obvious that there are a few senators who are clearly more liberal than Obama. In fact every Democratic Senator has a more liberal voting record than Obama, except Baucus, Biden, Pryor, Dodd (due to absenses on crucial votes), Landrieu and Ben Nelson -- but since when do right wing journalists let those pesky facts get in the way?

Let us not forget that in 2004, they claimed that...you guessed it, John Kerry and John Edwards were the most liberal senators. What a coincidence!