Friday's Starting Lineup
Good Friday morning. Don't bother emailing your reporter buddies today. We're all still trying to dig out our inboxes after the deluge of fact checks and re-checks that went along with yesterday's health care summit.
In a special edition of Hotline OnCall's Starting Lineup today, we take a look at National Journal's annual vote rankings, which hit newsstands today. Here's a peek at the extremes, and the middle, in an increasingly partisan Congress:
THE LIBERALS: They were the most excited when Pres. Obama came to power, and they have been among the most disappointed by Obama's first year in office. But as Dem centrists who represent more moderate districts find themselves in electoral trouble, liberals look set to win more influence within the caucus.
The most liberal members in the Senate include Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Roland Burris (D-IL), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), all tied for first place. In the House, 8 members share the distinction -- Reps. Rush Holt (D-NJ), Gwen Moore (D-WI), John Olver (D-MA), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL),
For the most part, GOPers won't be able to cast their rivals as the most liberal in Congress -- with one exception. Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH), who faces a tough rematch this year, has a composite liberal score of 83.3 (out of 100), making her the 60th-most liberal member of the House. Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Barbara Boxer are the 2 most liberal Dems running for re-election in the upper chamber.
THE CONSERVATIVES: When Dems lose seats, GOPers bent as much on changing their party as on changing DC could be the big winners. After purging moderates, the most conservative are getting more conservative and the middle is fading, according to this year's vote rankings. The country remains a center-right nation, the GOPers love to argue, but at what point does a more conservative GOP lead to an abandonment of the "center" part of that statement?
Unlike Dems, GOPers get to fete a clear winner in the most-conservative sweepstakes: This year, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) takes the prize. He's closely followed by Sens. Jim DeMint (R-SC), Jim Bunning (R-KY) and Tom Coburn (R-OK). In the House, Reps. Trent Franks (R-AZ), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), Pete Olson (R-TX), John Shadegg (R-AZ) and Mac Thornberry (R-TX) share the prize.
THE MODERATES: If there were a political Endangered Species Act, moderates would be at the top of the list. Threats in both parties will mean a more partisan House at a time when Americans see DC as broken and gridlocked.
The House GOP will lose Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE), the most liberal member of their conference, while Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao (R-LA) will be an underdog in his race for re-election. On the Dem side, the list of most conservative members reads like the NRCC's target list: Reps. Bobby Bright (D-AL), Travis Childers (D-MS), Walt Minnick (D-ID), Harry Teague (D-NM) and Glenn Nye (D-VA) are just 5 of the Dems farther to the right than the House average.
The Senate will both benefit, assuming Castle wins a race in which he is the clear favorite, and suffer. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) -- who has an identical liberal/conservative composite score with seatmate Richard Lugar (R-IN) -- is leaving after this year, along with retiring Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), the 4th-most liberal GOPer in the Senate. Sens. Arlen Specter (D-PA) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), 2 centrist Dems, are in tough races as well.
Check back later this morning for more from National Journal's vote rankings.
The above list of "conservatives" has shown itself to be a farce with the omission of the one man whom Judge Andrew Napolitano refers to as the "Thomas Jefferson of our day", the Honorable Dr. Ron Paul. He stands alone as the sole defender of the Constitution and should be the clear winner, assuming that "conservative" means "constitutionalist", but I fear that this is not the case. Too many neocons still need to be rooted out.