Mavericks In The Vote Ratings
Why is Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) the 160th most liberal House member in the 2009 vote ratings rather than No. 1? Why is Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) rated 140th among conservatives, rather than first?
The simple reason is that Dennis Kucinich voted with conservatives more often than 159 of his colleagues and Ron Paul voted with liberals more often than 139 of his.
National Journal's vote ratings are based on how a member voted, not why a member voted the way he or she did. Kucinich, for example, voted with conservatives against the health care reform legislation the House passed on November 6. He often parted ways with a majority of other House liberals, and the ratings reflect that.
Similarly, Paul voted opposite most conservatives on a variety of matters, most notably related to foreign policy, such as when he voted with many liberals to require the Pentagon to develop an exit strategy from Afghanistan.
When maverick liberals stand on principle and vote against others on the Left because they don't think a bill is liberal enough, or when maverick conservatives buck the Right because a bill includes too many compromises with moderates, the vote ratings system sees only the vote, not the reasons behind it.
Check out more surprises within our vote rankings, and take a look at the most liberal and most conservative members.
Since when do republicans vote like conservatives? If Ron Paul is not voting with republicans, it probably (and does mean) he's voting like a conservative.
This study is good proof.
So the rankings don't show who is more "conservative", but who is more "Republican". Who is more willing to toe party line.
Hrmm that was weird, my comment got eaten. Anywho I wanted to say that it's nice to know that someone else also touched on this as I had trouble finding the same information elsewhere. This was the first place that helped me understand this. Thanks.
Further evidence that the narrative of "liberal" and "conservative" pushed on us is absurd. Who gets to write those definitions? Requiring an exit strategy from Afghanistan is a "liberal" thing? What a bunch of baloney.