Rather than just pimp someone’s diary in the open thread, I thought I’d use my diary today to plug one put up by TigerCourse earlier. Thanks to this fact-filled diary we got a really great discussion going regarding Hillary’s progressive (yes progressive) voting record.
TigerCourse (and I’m sorry but I’m not yet clear whether to say "he" or "she") posted links to some really great sites that rank a Senator for their liberalism / progressive votes over the years, and they take the time to map out a bit of methodology used, when the rankings were done, and offered a bit of analysis on the sites overall.
So I thought I’d offer up this space to plug that diary and maybe continue the discussion – it was a good one and I’d like to encourage more of that here.
Make the jump...
We got this dialogue going on Monday, when I posted a diary with Hillary’s voting record since being elected to the Senate. Good discussion that day (164 comments), but TigerCourse took it a step further in their diary today.
There were over 200 comments made and nearly ALL of them were civil etc., focusing on the record of one candidate while steering clear of slamming the others. Even supporters of other candidates gave a fair hearing to what TigerCourse had to say and I applaud them for it.
I won’t mimic all of what they included in their diary, but I will include the links so you can take a look at where Hillary stands in the rankings. To get us started, here’s what TigerCourse had to say in their intro...
A common negative comment I read about Clinton is that "she doesn't vote the way I want most of the time". When I first came onto this site, as a somewhat Clark supporter, I also believed that. I thought Clinton had a conservative voting record, closer to the right of the party then the left. I imagined a large gap between her and the liberal leaders of our party, like Boxer and Kennedy. Of course, I'd never actually looked at her record, or where she ranked. I held my opinion on faith and faith alone. And I think alot of people here are the same way.
One day someone made a comment like "Hillary Clinton is the worst Democrat in the party". And I though, "that probably isn't quite true. Bad, but not the worst". So I looked it up. And I was wrong. She's not the worst. She's not even bad. Hillary Clinton has a liberal voting record.
Check out their diary and I’m sure you’ll be surprised at where Hillary fits in the rankings among her colleagues. There’s also a link that compares her votes to LIEberman’s and she’s far and away more progressive than he is.
Progressive Punch Clinton is ranked as the 14th most liberal Senator.
National Journal Clinton is ranked 13th most liberal.
GovTrack Clinton is ranked as the 5th most liberal Senator.
Drum Major where Clinton earns an A.
A Diary By Democratic Luntz Comparing everyone’s record to LIEberman’s.
At one point, GussieFN asked me if there was anything about my candidate that would give me pause to support her, and I answered in the following way (I thought this was worth repeating)...
http://www.dailykos.com/...
I don't like that she supported the war resolution - I was adamently against that back then but then I wasn't getting briefings in the Senate and didn't have constituents contacting me night & day to go after the people we were told had something to do with the 9/11 attacks. I lived through them in DC so I can just imagine what New Yorkers were saying back then.
I've looked at her floor speech and I understand her reasons for supporting that resolution. So overall I have to say this really doesn't give me pause or make me uncomfortable in supporting her. I'm behind her candidacy a thousand percent and if I could afford to leave my job and give up my family's health insurance coverage, I'd make the commute down to VA and back each day to work on her campaign - making copies all day if need be - to help get her elected as our next president.
Seriously guys – we got such a great discussion going – without the usual attacks and hate-filled generalizations – that I’m amazed this diary didn’t make it up on to the Rec List. It served to clear the air regarding some of the misconceptions about Hillary’s voting history, and lets you know where she stands on the issues of the day in the thoughtful comments that people have left there.
Please check it out – Rec it up if you think it’s worthy, and continue the discussion here if so moved.
Peace.