New Senator Scores Finished - Is your Dem Senator a DINO?

[Zodiak]

Well, this is the third quarterly calculation of the "liberal" index for all of our Democratic Senators according to my "rubber meets the road" system. For those not familiar with the method, I found that ADA ratings are rather arbitrary and rarely concern issues that affect the American people directly. What's more is the ADA only puts out ratings once a year based on a backroom decision as to which 20 votes to count. In the end, ADA gave Boxer a lower rating than Feinstein in "progressivism".

So I went back and recalculated all of the Senators votes on partisan issues when it only comes to bill passage and appointment confirmations. I have been posting my numbers here on the net for a short while, but this post contains the full list as well as the methodology.

I do not ask that you take my scoring system as a "be all and end all" index. It is not. I did this for myself because there is so much rhetoric on the net concerning the DLC wars without any substance. Who are the DINO's? Who should be forgiven for the occasional trespass in the interest of big business? These numbers should at least give you a guide, or better yet, inspire you to score them on your own.

So here is the complete list of numbers, decide for yourself:

Harkin (IO) 88.9
Lautenberg (NJ) 83.3
Boxer (CA) 83.3
Kerry (MA) -DLC 77.8
Kennedy (MA) 77.8
Feingold (WI) 77.8
Durbin (IL) 77.8
Sarbanes (MD) 72.2
Reed (RI) 72.2
Mikulski (MD) 72.2
Levin (MI) 72.2
Akaka (haw) 72.2
Obama (IL) 69.4
Wyden (OR) 66.7
Leahy (VT) 66.7
Dodd (conn) -DLC 66.7
Dayton (MN) 66.7
Biden (DE) 66.7
Bayh (IN) 66.7
Shumer (NY) -DLC 61.1
Reid (NV) 61.1
Inouye (haw) -DLC 61.1
Clinton (NY) -DLC 58.3
Stabenow (MI) -DLC 55.6
Murray (WA) 55.6
Dorgan (ND) -DLC 55.6
Byrd (WV) 50.0
Menendez (NJ)- DLC 50.0
Rockefeller (WV) 44.4
Kohl (WI) -DLC 44.4
Feinstein (CA) 41.7
Leiberman (CT) -DLC 38.9
Cantwell (WA) -DLC 38.9
Bingaman (NM) -DLC 38.9
Baucus (MT) -DLC 36.1
Johnson (SD) -DLC 33.3
Conrad (ND) -DLC 30.6
Carper (DE) -DLC 27.8
Salazar (CO) -DLC 22.2
Nelson (FL) -DLC 22.2
Lincoln(AR) -DLC 22.2
Pryor (AR) -DLC 19.4
Landrieu (LA)- DLC 16.7
Nelson (NE)- DLC 0.0

These scores are all percentages of a total possible score of 180 (so far, in this session, there have been 14 controversial bills and confirmations). A senator gets a score of "10" for voting against Bush's agenda on an issue, a "5" for abstaining, and a "0" for voting with the Republicans.

Here are the eighteen issues:

1. Rice confirmation (inept) 2.7
2. Gonzales confirmation (torturer) 8.3
3. Class action lawsuit bill 5.91
4. Bankruptcy bill 5.7
5. Negroponte confirmation (criminal and murderer) (0.5)
6. Cheney's Energy Bill (1.6)
7. CAFTA I (7.8)
8. CAFTA II (two votes for it (votes changed), + important issue) (7.5)
9. Election Reform (object to Ohio vote, 5 pts for speaking out, 10 for voting with a conscious) (0.6)
10. Confirmation of radical RW judges (0 pts for voting for one of the three judges, 5 pts for being one of the 7 senators in the compromise, -10 pts for voting for TWO of these judges) (8.5)
11. Firearm manufacturer immunity from legal liability (6.7)
12. Cutting Medicaid (6.7)
13. More tax cuts for the rich (9.4)
14. Roberts Confirmation (5)
15. Alito cloture (requested by DUers)
16. Alito confirmation
17. More tax cuts for the rich (do these people ever stop?)
18. PATRIOT act passage

The number that follows the issue is an indication of how much the Democratic Senate as a whole agrees with liberal bloggers, basically. A 10 is total Democratic unity. A lower number indicates disunity (haven't calculated the new numbers yet).

I flagged the DLC members because it clearly shows that there are a few DLCers who are "okay", but the majority of them are the worst betrayers of the party.

Speaking of which, here are how the Republicans score. These are ALL of the defections on the Republican side, according to my system.

chafee 27.7%
snowe 16.6%
deWine 16.6%
voinovich 16.6%
sununu 11.1%
colins 11.1%
craig 11.1%
burr = 11.1%
kyl 5.5%
mccain 5.5%%
martinez 5.5%
gregg 5.5%
burr 5.5%
Murkowski 5.5%
frist 5.5%
hagel 5.5%

I did not give Repukes credit for abstaining....these are all true defections, but they serve to compare the Democratic scores.

So everyone enjoy the numbers and decide who the DINOs are, if any. At least this way we can easily define what a DINO is by setting a standard, not deciding issue-by-issue.