Another Republican Lie Exposed

Are Kerry and Edwards Really The Most Liberal Politicians In The Senate?

After all the spin about Kerry and Edwards being the most liberal politicians in the Senate, I thought I would do some checking. The Americans For Democratic Action (ADA) is the oldest independent liberal lobbying organization in the country. For more than 50 years, the ADA has been rating the voting records of all politicians. Since the ADA's primary purpose is to promote liberal policies, they ought to know a true liberal when they see one.

Kerry Is Really A Moderate Democrat.

The following table shows the ADA rating for each member of the Senate in 2003, according to his or her voting record. It was taken from the ADA web page and sorted so you can see how each member ranks. As you can see, Kerry is the 29th most liberal person in the Senate. This puts him right in the middle of the range for the Democrats.

Edwards Is Even More Centrist.

Edwards is ranked even more conservative at 46th, which is about as conservative as you can be without being a Republican. In fact, he rates more conservative than Chaffee, a Republican. More importantly, he is right in the center of the range for all 100 Senators, which obviously makes him "centrist." Clearly, all the spin about Kerry and Edwards being "the two most liberal people in the Senate" is pure hype based on carefully "cherry picking" the information. Looking at other years, you see exactly the same pattern. For example, in 2002, Kerry has an 85% ratings, the same as 2003 and Edward has a 70% rating, slightly more liberal than 2003.

Ranking	Name	Party	ADA Rating	Ranking	Name	Party	ADA Rating
1	Sarbanes	D	100%	51	Nelson, Ben	D	45%
2	Levin, C.	D	100%	52	McCain	R	35%
3	Reed, J.	D	100%	53	Campbell	R	30%
4	Rockefeller	D	100%	54	Specter	R	25%
5	Boxer	D	95%	55	Murkowski, L.	R	20%
6	Dodd	D	95%	56	Smith, G.	R	20%
7	Durbin	D	95%	57	Roberts	R	15%
8	Harkin	D	95%	58	Coleman	R	15%
9	Kennedy, E.	D	95%	59	Hagel	R	15%
10	Stabenow	D	95%	60	Gregg	R	15%
11	Lautenberg	D	95%	61	Sununu	R	15%
12	Bingaman	D	95%	62	Dole	R	15%
13	Clinton	D	95%	63	DeWine	R	15%
14	Schumer	D	95%	64	Voinovich	R	15%
15	Byrd	D	95%	65	Graham, L.	R	15%
16	Feingold	D	95%	66	Shelby	R	10%
17	Kohl	D	95%	67	Stevens	R	10%
18	Feinstein	D	90%	68	Kyl	R	10%
19	Akaka	D	90%	69	Allard	R	10%
20	Mikulski	D	90%	70	Miller, Z.	D	10%
21	Corzine	D	90%	71	Lugar	R	10%
22	Wyden	D	90%	72	Bunning	R	10%
23	Cantwell	D	90%	73	McConnell	R	10%
24	Murray	D	90%	74	Lott	R	10%
25	Inouye	D	85%	75	Burns, C.	R	10%
26	Baucus, M.	D	85%	76	Ensign	R	10%
27	Jeffords	I	85%	77	Santorum	R	10%
28	Leahy	D	85%	78	Alexander, L.	R	10%
29	Kerry, J.	D	85%	79	Frist	R	10%
30	Nelson, Bill	D	80%	80	Cornyn	R	10%
31	Conrad	D	80%	81	Hutchison, K.	R	10%
32	Dorgan	D	80%	82	Bennett	R	10%
33	Hollings	D	80%	83	Hatch	R	10%
34	Daschle	D	80%	84	Warner	R	10%
35	Johnson, Tim	D	80%	85	Chambliss	R	5%
36	Lincoln	D	75%	86	Craig	R	5%
37	Biden	D	75%	87	Crapo	R	5%
38	Carper	D	75%	88	Fitzgerald	R	5%
39	Graham, B.	D	75%	89	Grassley	R	5%
40	Bayh	D	75%	90	Brownback	R	5%
41	Dayton	D	75%	91	Cochran	R	5%
42	Pryor	D	70%	92	Bond	R	5%
43	Lieberman	D	70%	93	Talent	R	5%
44	Reid, H.	D	70%	94	Domenici	R	5%
45	Chafee	R	65%	95	Inhofe	R	5%
46	Edwards, J.	D	65%	96	Nickles	R	5%
47	Landrieu	D	60%	97	Allen, G.	R	5%
48	Snowe	R	55%	98	Enzi	R	5%
49	Breaux	D	45%	99	Sessions, J.	R	0%
50	Collins, S.	R	45%	100	Thomas, C.	R	0%

Kerry and Edwards: Two Moderates

Kerry and Edwards:
Two Moderates