National Journal released its 2009 Senate voting scorecard today. You can see the results here.
This scorecard has been controversial in the past, mainly for suddenly labeling John Kerry the most liberal Senator in 2003 (he had never previously held that title), and then for suddenly naming Barack Obama the most liberal Senator in 2007 (again, he had never previously held that title.
This year, to try and offer more perspective on the ideological bent of Senate voting patterns, I have produced a Senate voting scorecard that takes the average 2009-2010 Senate score from National Journal, Progressive Punch (crucial votes), and DW-Nominate. Here are the mean results from those three scorecards for all 100 current Senators:
The data used for these calculations can be found here (Excel file). DW-Nominate scores were recalibrated along a 0-100 scale, with -1.000 equaling 100, 0.000 equaling 50, and 1.000 equaling 0.
What does this all mean? Here are some thoughts:
- Republicans more right-leaning than Democrats are left-leaning. To no one's surprise, Republicans are more right-leaning across these three scorecards than Democrats are left-leaning. The mean score for Democrats is 74.7, while the mean score for Republicans is 18.1. Without Scott Brown's early and skewed numbers, the average Republican score is 16.9.
- Democrats did not win with conservatives. The 22 Democrats who first entered the Senate in 2005 or later have an average score of 76.7%, compared to a score of 73.6% for the 37 Senators who first entered the Senate before 2005. This means that, contrary to media narratives, Democrats did not retake the Senate, and build a large majority, by moving to the right. The freshman Democratic Senators have actually pushed the caucus to the left.
- Can't figure out what to do with Feingold and Sanders:Russ Feingold is listed as the most left-leaning Senator by DW-Nominate, and 56th on National Journal. Bernie Sanders at 2nd in DW-Nominate and 41st in National Journal. Given the role that Feingold and Sanders have often played in the caucus, the DW-Nominate scores feel much more on the mark here. National Journal pegging them as middle of the road Senators appears demonstrative of a flaw in their methodology.
It is also worth remembering that no voting scorecard will ever paint a complete picture of a Senator. What Senators do at the committee level, what legislation they introduce, their ability to organize and convince colleagues, and what votes they prevent are all also important factors. |
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