I came across this list from Progressive Punch via DailyKos. It's pretty interesting and a little surprising in some ways, but not in others. For example, I had no idea of Jack Reed of Rhode Island had the most liberal voting record (at least according to this scorecard), that John Kerry was so far down the list, that Arlen Specter's record is more liberal than either Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins, or that Richard Shelby's ranks as more liberal than John McCain's (or that he's still votes so much on the right, and that the moderate-sounding Chuck Hagel is farther down that people like John Thune, etc.).

The methodology provokes some questions, but it appears to match commonsense appraisals of the various Senators' politics. There's a fuller breakdown for a range of issues, and also for members of the House.

Most progressive-liberal (all Democrats):

1. Jack Reed (D-RI), 96.88% progressive-liberal voting record
2. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), 96.86
3. Teddy Kennedy (D-MA), 95.55
4. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), 95.27
5. Jon Corzine (D-NJ), 94.39
6. Richard Durbin (D-IL), 94.23
7. Carl Levin (D-MI), 93.04
8. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), 92.03
9. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), 91.71
10. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), 91.40

Least progressive-liberal (no suprises here):

91. Mike Crapo, R-ID, 3.59
92. Wayne Allard, R-CO, 3.24
93. Jim Bunning, R-KY, 3.06
94. Trent Lott, R-MS, 3.06
95. Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, 3.04
96. James Inhofe, R-OK, 3.01
97. John Kyl, R-AZ, 2.95
98. Richard Burr, R-NC, 2.52
99. Larry Craig, R-ID 2.38
100. John Cornyn, R-TX 2.19

In the middle (45-55), the liberal Republicans and the most conservative Democrat:

45. Ben Nelson, D-NE, 49.37
46. Lincoln Chafee, R-RI, 41.23
47. Arlen Specter, R-PA, 35.17
48. Olympia Snowe, R-ME, 31.69
49. Susan Collins, R-ME, 29.98
**a big falloff after these five**
50. Richard Shelby, R-AL, 16.39 (a former Demo)
51. Mike DeWine, R-OH, 14.66
52. Gordon Smith, R-OR, 13.97
53. John McCain, R-AZ, 13.61
54. Ted Stevens, R-AK, 11.90 (4th in line for the Preznitcy)
55. John Warner, R-VA, 11.76

Other prominent Senators:

14(T). Charles Schumer, D-NY, 90.58
16. Barack Obama, D-IL, 90.51
24. John Kerry, D-MA, 85.91
25. Joe Biden, D-DE, 84.52
26. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, 83.80
33. Harry Reid, D-NV, 80.90 (Minority Leader)
38. Joe Lieberman, D-CT, 75.77
44. Jim Jeffords, I-VT, 56.55
71. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, 6.24
73. Chuck Hagel, R-NE, 6.19
74. George Allen, R-VA, 6.08
75. Rick Santorum, R-PA, 6.05
86. Bill Frist, R-TN, 4.08 (Majority Leader)

[ September 21, 2005, 10:18 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

Interesting, but the methodology seems suspect -- every vote is weighted equally? Russ Feingold, my favorite senator, seems higher than the 19th-most 'liberal' senator to me since he cast two major votes against the PATRIOT Act (in which he was alone) and W's jihad in Iraq. He's far closer to any sensible model of a progressive than that craven hawk/corporate shill Hillary Rodham.

I'm sure many of the great minds assembled on this board will be poring over all that data with their usual depth and interest in policy details.

Other scorecards of note:
Public Citizen
ACLU
League of Conservation Voters
American Conservative Union
LULAC


I too like Russ -- but mainly since he's a maverick / independent / reasonable voice (who happens to also be progressive for the most part). Drill down in the Progressive scorecard to see he scored poorly on ethanol subsidies (a big issue in Wisconsin) and on gun control -- he actually supports some gun rights (the horror )! Hunting is a big thing in the state. He thought the assault weapons ban was arbitrary and ineffective -- not good public policy -- so he voted against its renewal.

It's been fun the last 24 hours to watch many lefties in shock over his "Yes" vote on the Roberts SCOTUS nomination. He'll score even lower in the next report card. And he won't give a damn.

[ September 23, 2005, 10:14 AM: Message edited by: DCBucky ]

I'm surprised to see John McCain so low. I always thought he was a fairly tolerant person.

Was I wrong?

yes