Rating confusion: Is Obama a liberal?

PolitiFact by Bill Adair | Jun. 17, 2008 (News Analysis)
McCain and other Republicans cite a National Journal rating to claim that Obama is the Senate's No. 1 liberal. But other measurements tell a different story.

Actually, there's some truth to both claims. The political magazine National Journal rated Obama the most liberal senator for 2007, while Congressional Quarterly calculated that Obama voted with Bush 40 to 50 percent over the past two years.

McCain's seemingly contradictory claims illustrate the limitations of congressional ratings. Although they can provide a quick snapshot of someone's voting record, the ratings have many shortcomings, political ... Full Story »

Posted by Kaizar Campwala

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Tanya J. Maurer
3.8
 by Tanya J. Maurer - Oct. 1, 2008

The article makes several good points, and does well in cautioning voters about biases and statistical peculiarities in ratings of candidates along scales of "liberal" and "conservative." The article fails to dissect the evolution of the definitions of "liberal" and "conservative," nor the demonizing connotations that have been attached to the terms in political attacks. There are only a handful of liberals in the senate, and only a couple conservatives. The democrats have become centralists since clinton. The republicans have evolved into regressives and abondoned almost everything that constitutes the term "conservative." So not only the rating schemes are questionable, but the terminology and scales are antiquated and not discriptive.

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