FiveThirtyEight has a great diary from last night about the least valuable Dems based on taking votes at face value.
Dennis Kucinich finishes as the least valuable Dem
Artur Davis (AL-07) ,running for Ala. Gov and not seeking a 5th term in Congress, finishes as the second least valuable Dem
cross posted at Progressive Electorate
This is different than the analysis Nate Silver did at the end of 2009
The original version of the ratings built in an exception for what I termed "liberal nos": votes that a Democratic member cast against his party's agenda, but which he justified by stating that the policy under consideration was not liberal enough. We did not count the liberal no votes as yes votes -- we just threw them out, treating them as non-votes instead.
But what if we don't build in an exception for the so-called "liberal no's" -- that is, simply take every vote at face value? It turns out, then, that Davis is no longer the least valuable Democrat. Instead, it is Dennis Kucinich, who voted against health care, the hate crimes bill, the budget, the cap-and-trade bill, and financial regulation -- all ostensibly from the left -- in spite of coming from from the strongly Democratic Ohio 10th district near Cleveland.
There have been plenty of Dennis the Menace diaries over the past week in relation to where he is on health care. But I want to talk about Davis for a second. This is a district where we can do better and we will. There are a number of great candidates in this race. See Left in Alabama for videos of all six candidates speaking at a local Democratic forum. Support the candidate of your choice.
I'm backing my good friend Shelia Smoot who had this to say about the District and where she stands
As we see people flip and flop as Democrats ... See, I'm telling you I am a Democrat, I don't have it on my flyer. I am a Democrat. ... I've been a Democrat a long, long time. We don't need another pretend Democrat -- can we say Parker Griffith?"
"We must stop playing games with the lives that we serve, we must stop playing games with the economy and health care. ... You can help send the right person to Congress. Because right now we have the 7 congressional districts and as far as I'm concerned, 6 of them are Republican."
"I'm a journalist first, and an elected official, not a politician. Because my job is to work for you. And I can do that."
"I'm prepared, I'm ready. I'm strong. I'm smart, I'll do my homework. And when it's time to take the hit, I won't tuck my tail and run away from the tough decisions."
"I will vote for health care, I will vote for hate crimes (referencing the hate crimes bill vote made by Davis). I will stand strong for the people who cannot stand for themselves. And for the rest of you, I'll stand strong for you , too. My door is always open."
"Make sure you send the right person to Congress at the right time and the time is now."
"I want to make a difference in somebody else's life, other than my own."
As you can see we do have candidates that will stand with us. I've known Shelia for a long time and when she says she supports good health care reform
and improving the infrastructure in AL-07 she means it without reservation.
Please consider donating to Shelia or any of the great Congressional Candidates through our Act Blue Page