The National Journal
has released liberal/conservative ratings of 99 Senators who were in the 109th Congress (Jay Rockefeller is not
rated since he missed some key votes). The ratings are relative to other senators, rather than being absolute.
Thus Richard Durbin's 95% rating does NOT mean he voted yes on 95% of the "liberal" bills. It means he was
to the left of 95% of the other senators on the average. It is like the percentile rankings on the SAT test.
A score of 95% does not mean you got 95% of the questions right. It means you did better than 95% of the
other students. Below are the composite rankings of the senators up for reelection in 2008.
Note that philosophy and party align perfectly. Even the most conservative Democrat, Mary Landrieu (D-LA),
is more liberal than the most liberal Republican, Susan Collins (R-ME).
Richard Durbin
(D-IL)
95
Tom Harkin
D-IA
92
Jack Reed
(D-RI)
91
John Kerry
(D-MA)
86
Carl Levin
(D-MI)
85
Frank Lautenberg
(D-NJ)
84
Chris Dodd
(D-CT)
84
Joseph Biden
(D-DE)
78
Tim Johnson
(D-SD)
69
Max Baucus
(D-MT)
66
Mark Pryor
(D-AR)
60
Mary Landrieu
(D-LA)
58
Susan Collins
(R-ME)
53
Norm Coleman
(R-MN)
46
Gordon Smith
(R-OR)
46
John Warner
(R-VA)
45
Ted Stevens
(R-AK)
36
Thad Cochran
(R-MS)
36
John Sununu
(R-NH)
31
Lindsey Graham
(R-SC)
29
Lamar Alexander
(R-TN)
29
Chuck Hagel
(R-NE)
28
Pete Domenici
(R-NM)
25
Pat Roberts
(R-KS)
22
Kit Bond
(R-MO)
22
Elizabeth Dole
(R-NC)
19
Larry Craig
(R-ID)
18
Mitch McConnell
(R-KY)
16
Saxby Chambliss
(R-GA)
12
Michael Enzi
(R-WY)
11
Jeff Sessions
(R-AL)
10
John Cornyn
(R-TX)
9
This page is the prototype for 2008. The data and map will refer to previous
elections until serious polls begin in 2008. The blog will be updated when
there is interesting news about the 2008 races.
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