He brought up the talking point about Obama being the most liberal Senator. "More liberal than Bernie Sanders?" I asked my buddy. Unlike most right wingers, he's smart enough to know Sanders is a socialist and smart enough to evade the question.
I thought the Republicans have been pulling this "fact" out of their research library (aka their behinds), but it's actually based on something like a truth - The National Journal rankings.
Others agree with me:
Carpet baggers:
“But before anyone takes the National Journal rankings at face value, it’s worth noting how very flawed the methodology is. Indeed, it was misleading in 2004, and it’s equally misleading now.
Taking a closer look at this year’s results, Obama and Joe Biden were both considered more liberal than Russ Feingold and Bernie Sanders. This, alone, should make one wonder about the reliability of the rankings.”
Mother Jones:
“In years past, when Obama voted as many times as a normal senator, he was the 10th and 16th most liberal senator. That is likely a truer representation of his politics. Does anyone really think Obama and Joe Biden are more liberal than Russ Feingold or Bernie Sanders (a socialist)?”
Instead of relying on a little magazine, how about relying on how liberal groups rate the Senators?
Electoral Vote combined the rating of 8 liberal groups (ACLU, NAACP, League of Conservation Voters, Children's Defense Fund, etc.), to see what the liberals themselves had to say about it.
Obama comes out FOURTY SECOND out the 100 Senators!!! There are only 8 democratic senators who are more conservative than Obama (all the Republicans are, though some are almost as "liberal" as Obama). Obama has almost the same liberal score (80) as independent (and nearly Republican VP) Joe Lieberman. Joe Biden’s score is even less liberal than Obama's – 74.
