Evaluating Congress
Tags: conservatives, liberals, moderates, Republicans, Democrats, ACU, ADA, NJCC, ideology, elections, Congress, Senate, House, 2006 elections
The Right Place has the 2006 Election edition of his “RPI”–an index showing how liberal/moderate/conservative each member of Congress is.
The formula I used for computing the scores was as follows:
(((((ACU Lifetime + ACU 2005) / 2) + NJCC 2005) - ADA 2005) + 100) / 3 = RPIThe RPI, or Right Place Index, is then rounded to the nearest whole number.
With this formula, we get an excellent cross-section of opinion from the three most respected and often-cited Congressional score-keepers: one conservative, one non-partisan, and one liberal, and thus, I believe, the most fair evaluation possible.
The higher the score, the more conservative a given member of Congress is.
The lower the score, the more liberal a given member of Congress is.
Why should you care? Well, obviously, you need to see who may well be in the congressional leadership if the Democrats gain the majority and how “moderate” they are (not), despite what they claim to be. And what about those who are expected to run for President in 2008–what about those so-called “moderates” like Hillary, Evan Bayh, and Barack Obama? Moderate? Er, not so much. Maybe to the nutroots, but not by their ACU/NJCC/ADA ratiings.
Check it out, and think about it. John Donovan nails it here:
A vote for Duckworth is *also* a vote for Dingell, Conyers, Pelosi, et. cie, and *they* will have the power. Not Tammy Duckworth. Just sayin’.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it until I turn blue in the face: Staying home is ALSO a vote for Dingell, Conyers, Pelosi…you get the picture. Staying home may be an option, but it’s a really, really foolish option if you care at all about the results of the election.
THANK YOU, Mr. Right, for putting this index together!
Mr. Right says:
Thanks, Beth! Keep fighting the good fight!