Voting records are inherently subjective and don't reflect leadership and other important intangibles. Still, I find it interesting to check up on our elected officials and evaluate them based on reasonably relevant criteria.
So, via Progressive Punch, here are the lifetime rankings for the 10 current U.S. Senators who have compiled the best voting records. (A top 20 list for the House follows below the fold, along with links to the campaign websites of our best Members of Congress.)
Top 10 Senate Progressives
http://progressivepunch.org/...
1 Whitehouse RI
2 Brown OH
3 Reed RI
4 Cardin MD
5 Menendez NJ
6 Sanders VT
7 Kennedy MA
8 Boxer CA
9 Durbin IL
10 Lautenberg NJ
Top 20 House Progressives
http://progressivepunch.org/...
1 Edwards, Donna MD
2T Ellison, Keith MN
2T Tsongas, Niki MA
4 Grijalva, Raúl AZ
5 Hirono, Mazie HI
6 Carson, André IN
7 Johnson, Hank GA
8 Speier, Jackie CA
9 Lee, Barbara CA
10 Schakowsky, Janice IL
11 Clarke, Yvette NY
12 Sánchez, Linda CA
13T Sarbanes, John MD
13T Welch, Peter VT
15 Sutton, Betty OH
16 Solis, Hilda CA
17 Moore, Gwen WI
18 Richardson, Laura CA
19 Baldwin, Tammy WI
20 Cohen, Steve TN
In the interest of rewarding good behavior, here are links to the campaign websites for Sens. Reed, Durbin, and Lautenberg (the other Senators ranked in the top 10 aren't up for re-election this year) and for all the Representatives listed above.
Jack Reed
http://www.jackreed2008.com/
Richard Durbin
http://www.dickdurbin.com/
Frank Lautenberg
http://www.lautenbergfornj.com/
Donna Edwards
http://www.donnaedwardsforcongress.com/
Keith Ellison
http://www.keithellison.org/
Niki Tsongas
http://nikitsongas.com/
Raul Grijalva
http://www.grijalvaforcongress.com/
Mazie Hirono
http://mazieforcongress.com/
Hirono & fellow Hawai`i residents
Andre Carson
http://www.andrecarsonforcongress.co...
Hank Johnson
http://www.hankforcongress.com/
Jackie Speier
http://www.jackieforcongress.com/
Barbara Lee
http://barbaraleespeaksforme.org/
Janice Schakowsky
http://www.janschakowsky.org/
Yvette Clarke
http://www.voteyvette.com/
Linda Sánchez
http://www.voteforlinda.com/
John Sarbanes
http://www.johnsarbanes.com/
Peter Welch
http://www.welchforcongress.com/
Betty Sutton
http://www.bettysuttonforcongress.com/
Hilda Solis
http://www.hildasolis.org/
Gwen Moore
http://www.gwenmooreforcongress.com/
Laura Richardson
http://laurarichardsonforcongress.com/
Tammy Baldwin
http://tammybaldwin.com/
Steve Cohen
http://www.cohenforcongress.com/
Thanks for your consideration in supporting these excellent Senators and Representatives!