At the Democratic Convention and on the road this week Republicans have been sent forth to spread their lies, excuse me, "talking points" on John Kerry and John Edwards.
The most pervasive, and questionable is the claim that John Kerry has been ranked the most liberal senator and John Edwards was the fourth most liberal. In reality, those rankings represent only votes the National Journal tracked in 2003 when both candidates missed a number of votes as they were campaigning.
As Media Matters points out Edwards's average National Journal "liberal score" during his five years in the Senate (1999-2003) is 75.7 percent, "a number that puts him in the moderate wing of his party," and is almost 20 points lower than the 2003 rating that Republicans are touting with the help of the conservative media.
Unfortunately, it has been left up to web sites like Media Matters, the Daily Howler and TV shows like the Daily Show to point out the facts, or even just the full story. The Daily Howler was one of the few to run the definitive part of Richard Cohen's article in the National Journal.
The bigger picture presents a more nuanced view of the two senators on the Democratic presidential ticket. Since joining the Senate in 1985, Kerry has compiled a “lifetime average” composite liberal score of 85.7 in NJ's vote ratings. Ten other current senators have a lifetime composite liberal score that is higher than Kerry’s. Meanwhile, Edwards, who first joined the Senate in 1999, has a lifetime composite liberal score of 75.7, a number that puts him in the moderate wing of his party.
But all people remember is one and four. Is it any wonder people like Bush end up in the White House?
No comments:
Post a Comment