So Bernie today has come out and endorsed Russ Feingold. This is good, because I’ve always liked Russ Feingold and will be happy to see him back in the Senate. However, this line from Bernie stood out.
Progressive? Yeah, Feingold was pretty progressive. So let’s look at his DW-Nominate score for the last time he was in the Senate:
1 108 40104 12 NEW JER 100 CORZINE -0.469 -0.474 -64.10567 509 0.882 0.943
2 108 15011 71 CALIFOR 100 BOXER -0.465 -0.335 -51.12486 501 0.903 0.956
3 108 10808 3 MASSACH 100 KENNEDY ED -0.460 -0.448 -58.26149 495 0.889 0.960
4 108 13039 52 MARYLAN 100 SARBANES -0.448 -0.190 -42.21657 509 0.920 0.974
5 108 40101 33 MINNESO 100 DAYTON -0.438 0.326 -106.19832 508 0.811 0.913
6 108 14400 82 HAWAII 100 AKAKA -0.423 0.294 -77.07858 490 0.854 0.937
7 108 14709 23 MICHIGA 100 LEVIN CARL -0.411 -0.072 -63.48947 519 0.885 0.956
8 108 49309 25 WISCONS 100 FEINGOLD -0.406 -0.914 -123.46478 519 0.788 0.888
9 108 14914 12 NEW JER 100 LAUTENBERG -0.403 -0.469 -65.88982 513 0.879 0.940
10 108 29142 5 RHODE I 100 REED -0.401 -0.205 -60.34392 516 0.890 0.946
11 108 14307 6 VERMONT 100 LEAHY -0.386 -0.101 -71.47476 508 0.869 0.929
12 108 14440 52 MARYLAN 100 MIKULSKI -0.385 -0.106 -56.57940 513 0.896 0.955
13 108 40105 13 NEW YOR 100 CLINTON -0.381 -0.129 -64.12691 503 0.880 0.942
This is really odd. If Feingold is a Strong Progressive at #8 (behind Carl Levin, who many people think of as Strong Establishment) worthy of a Bernie endorsement, then why is the Senator who is #13 on the same list seen as a far right pseudo-Republican? Since we are a reality based community here, there are only two conclusions to reach when using data vs. our “gut” to assess a person.
- Bernie is endorsing someone as a “progressive” who isn’t really all that progressive.
- Hillary is actually quite progressive, in contradiction to what we’ve all been told.
I’m going with #2, which is why #ImWithHer.