Kerry… MOST Liberal?
The assertion has been made that John Kerry is “the most liberal senator” in the senate today. Is this label fair? Let’s look at some facts and discus it.
The Editor of National Journal, the publication which rated senators on their voting records, Charles Green says that the characterization could be “misleading -- or just plain wrong."
He explains: "As with other lawmakers who were running for president, Kerry missed a lot of votes in 2003 -- 37 of the 62 that were being used in the vote ratings. He didn't vote often enough to merit scores in the social-policy and foreign-affairs categories. (Under our system, a member has to participate in at least half the votes in a category to receive a score in that category.) He did cast enough votes (19 of 32) in the economic category to get a rating. On those votes, Kerry took the "liberal" position every time. That was the basis for Kerry's receiving a composite liberal score for 2003 that was higher than any other senator's score."
In order to show a more balanced read, they listed all current 48 Democratic senators’ lifetime “liberal” rating.
First let’s look at the numbers. John Kerry is number 11 for his 20 years in the Senate. 11 of 48 doesn’t sound so bad, that’s only 77% (well maybe it is so bad) “most” liberal. However, they leave out a VERY IMPORTANT number. They only compare him to Democrats. These are traditionally the most liberal group in the Senate. What about the Republican and independent senators? Is he still number 11 in the whole Senate? That would make him 11 out of 100. That is only the 89% “most” liberal sitting senator. Even taking into consideration his 20 years in the Senate he is more liberal than the whole career votes of Carl Levin, Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, Tom Daschle, Joseph Biden, and Dianne Feinstein.
Senator Kerry only cast 25 votes out of 62 used to calculate the “rating.” Does this make you feel BETTER about him? These were apparently votes which National Journal felt were of importance. I cannot vouch for their ability to pick “important” votes. But let’s assume that they have some ability.
Since Senator Kerry voted 19 times in the economic category this means that he only voted six times in the 30 votes pertaining to social-policy and foreign-affairs. That is ONLY 20% of the time! Assuming that National Journal has SOME ability to pick important votes on which to rate senators, what does this tell us about the importance Senator Kerry places on social-policy and foreign-affairs? Are they important enough for Senator Kerry to take time from his busy schedule running for a job he does not yet have to go to Washington to fulfill an obligation to a job he already has? Are there some issues on which Senator Kerry does not want to have a recent voting record? Is he afraid that his stance may differ from the majority of Americans?
As for the ONE category in which he did place enough votes to be rated, he voted in the “liberal” position 100% of the time. So, what does this tell us about how important his liberal votes are to him? Senator Kerry only found time to go to Washington to vote on issues where his position was “liberal”. Of the 13 other votes in the economic category, had he voted, his vote might have been “conservative.” We really do not know. The only thing that we do know is that they were not important enough to him to fulfill the obligation of his current job and cast his vote.
So, with the information that National Journal provided to us…
Can we state that John Kerry is the most liberal senator?
Is that the question to ask?
Can we state that he is one of the most absent senators? (Remember in the 90’s when Senator Dole was running for president he gave up his seat in the Senate because he felt he was not there enough to do the job?)
Can we state that liberal issues are of more importance to John Kerry than conservative issues?
Can we deduce that he will perform his duties as president with the same dedication he shows for his current position in the senate?
Did Charles Green make Kerry look better or worse by trying to defend him?
Do you think that Senator Kerry was intentionally absent for some votes when he thought that his vote might hurt his chances of election as president?
Go to National Journal’s web site...
Convention Daily: When A Rating Becomes A Talking Point (08/30/2004)
Read more about it and…
Think for yourself!
Make up your own mind!
The Editor of National Journal, the publication which rated senators on their voting records, Charles Green says that the characterization could be “misleading -- or just plain wrong."
He explains: "As with other lawmakers who were running for president, Kerry missed a lot of votes in 2003 -- 37 of the 62 that were being used in the vote ratings. He didn't vote often enough to merit scores in the social-policy and foreign-affairs categories. (Under our system, a member has to participate in at least half the votes in a category to receive a score in that category.) He did cast enough votes (19 of 32) in the economic category to get a rating. On those votes, Kerry took the "liberal" position every time. That was the basis for Kerry's receiving a composite liberal score for 2003 that was higher than any other senator's score."
In order to show a more balanced read, they listed all current 48 Democratic senators’ lifetime “liberal” rating.
First let’s look at the numbers. John Kerry is number 11 for his 20 years in the Senate. 11 of 48 doesn’t sound so bad, that’s only 77% (well maybe it is so bad) “most” liberal. However, they leave out a VERY IMPORTANT number. They only compare him to Democrats. These are traditionally the most liberal group in the Senate. What about the Republican and independent senators? Is he still number 11 in the whole Senate? That would make him 11 out of 100. That is only the 89% “most” liberal sitting senator. Even taking into consideration his 20 years in the Senate he is more liberal than the whole career votes of Carl Levin, Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, Tom Daschle, Joseph Biden, and Dianne Feinstein.
Senator Kerry only cast 25 votes out of 62 used to calculate the “rating.” Does this make you feel BETTER about him? These were apparently votes which National Journal felt were of importance. I cannot vouch for their ability to pick “important” votes. But let’s assume that they have some ability.
Since Senator Kerry voted 19 times in the economic category this means that he only voted six times in the 30 votes pertaining to social-policy and foreign-affairs. That is ONLY 20% of the time! Assuming that National Journal has SOME ability to pick important votes on which to rate senators, what does this tell us about the importance Senator Kerry places on social-policy and foreign-affairs? Are they important enough for Senator Kerry to take time from his busy schedule running for a job he does not yet have to go to Washington to fulfill an obligation to a job he already has? Are there some issues on which Senator Kerry does not want to have a recent voting record? Is he afraid that his stance may differ from the majority of Americans?
As for the ONE category in which he did place enough votes to be rated, he voted in the “liberal” position 100% of the time. So, what does this tell us about how important his liberal votes are to him? Senator Kerry only found time to go to Washington to vote on issues where his position was “liberal”. Of the 13 other votes in the economic category, had he voted, his vote might have been “conservative.” We really do not know. The only thing that we do know is that they were not important enough to him to fulfill the obligation of his current job and cast his vote.
So, with the information that National Journal provided to us…
Can we state that John Kerry is the most liberal senator?
Is that the question to ask?
Can we state that he is one of the most absent senators? (Remember in the 90’s when Senator Dole was running for president he gave up his seat in the Senate because he felt he was not there enough to do the job?)
Can we state that liberal issues are of more importance to John Kerry than conservative issues?
Can we deduce that he will perform his duties as president with the same dedication he shows for his current position in the senate?
Did Charles Green make Kerry look better or worse by trying to defend him?
Do you think that Senator Kerry was intentionally absent for some votes when he thought that his vote might hurt his chances of election as president?
Go to National Journal’s web site...
Convention Daily: When A Rating Becomes A Talking Point (08/30/2004)
Read more about it and…
Think for yourself!
Make up your own mind!
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