CNN just ran a misleading story using the National Journal ranking of Obama as the #1 liberal senator. Of course I don’t think being liberal is a bad thing but there are many who do, especially being labeled #1, and CNN presented it in a negative way in my opinion. They also repeated the National Journal ranking of Hillary at #16. CNN needs to stop spreading the skewed National Journal ranking. I sent an email advising them their competition - MSNBC - did a much better job of journalism.
From MSNBC First Read
But a bit of context here: National Journal used 99 Senate votes in 2007 as the basis for its rankings, and because he was on the presidential campaign trail, Obama missed a third of those votes. (According to the magazine, Obama voted the liberal way 65 out of 66 votes. Clinton, meanwhile, voted the liberal way in 77 out of her 82 votes).
National Journal's vote ratings became an issue in the 2004 general election, when Republicans used the magazine's ranking of John Kerry as the most liberal senator of 2003 to label the then-Democratic nominee as the "most liberal senator" -- even though that was his rating for just that one year, when (like Obama did) he missed quite a few Senate votes due to being on the presidential campaign trail.
And this:
Indeed, while Obama ranks as the magazine's most liberal senator of 2007, his ranking was 16th in 2005 and 10th in 2006.
And regarding John McCain
As for McCain, the magazine says that he didn't vote frequently enough in 2007 to get an overall rating. Per National Journal, "He missed more than half of the votes in both the economic and foreign-policy categories. On social issues, which include immigration, McCain received a conservative score of 59."
Let’s not forget that Hillary’s campaign as also label Obama with the "L" word like it’s a slur to be called liberal.
From the Washington Post:
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign has also started slapping the L-word on Obama, warning that his appeal among moderate voters will diminish as they become more aware of liberal positions he took in the past, such as calling for single-payer health care and an end to the U.S. embargo against Cuba. "The evidence is that the more [voters] have been learning about him, the more his coalition has been shrinking," Clinton strategist Mark Penn said
The above article also notes the National Journal study.
It is disturbing that the misleading National Journal rankings are being quoted again this election. The National Journal acknowledges their ranking on Kerry became a republican talking point.
We should not allow the media to use this ranking without being challenged.