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By Richard E. Cohen, National Journal
© National Journal Group Inc.
Friday, Feb. 2, 2001

When George W. Bush vowed during his presidential campaign to remove bipartisanship from Washington's list of dirty words, congressional insiders snickered that he was setting a daunting task for himself. Now, National Journal's annual congressional vote ratings provide further evidence of the tough challenge awaiting Bush.

The ratings of House members and senators, based on key votes they cast last year, show that the unusually partisan patterns that took hold in 1999 continued throughout 2000. During the 106th Congress, lawmakers clearly had little experience working across the aisle on a sustained basis. And keep in mind that the November election changed the overall partisan balance of Republicans and Democrats only slightly -- just about 10 percent of each chamber's members were replaced.

Consider some of the findings from the recently tabulated 2000 vote ratings:

• In the Senate, where 55 Republicans were serving until Sen. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga., died in July, 53 of them had a more conservative voting record than did the most conservative Democrat, Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin. Only GOP Sens. Lincoln D. Chafee of Rhode Island and James M. Jeffords of Vermont sided frequently with the liberal ranks.

• In the House, about a dozen members from each party crossed party lines so frequently that their scores put them on the opposite side of the partisan divide in the ratings. But most of these middle-of-the-roaders' scores stayed close to the political center. The exceptions were Reps. Ralph M. Hall of Texas, the most conservative Democrat, and Constance A. Morella of Maryland, the most liberal Republican.

• The patterns were similar in the three issue areas -- economic, social, and foreign policy -- that comprise the ratings. Among House Democrats, only Reps. Ken Lucas of Kentucky, Matthew G. Martinez of California (who switched to the GOP last summer after losing his Democratic primary), and Hall voted in the more conservative half of the House in each area. Among Republicans, only Rep. Sherwood L. Boehlert of New York joined Morella in the liberal half of the House on each of the three sets of issues. Chafee and Jeffords were the sole Senators of either party to jump ship in the three issue areas.

• Among party leaders, House Republicans showed the strongest ideological voting patterns: Majority Leader Dick Armey and Majority Whip Tom DeLay, both of Texas, and GOP Conference Chairman J.C. Watts of Oklahoma all compiled nearly perfect conservative scores. By contrast, Senate Republican leaders -- as well as the Democratic leaders in each chamber -- had scores relatively close to the middle of their own respective parties.

These are some of the highlights of National Journal's congressional vote ratings for 2000. The scores, which have been compiled since 1981, show where lawmakers rank relative to one another in the House and Senate on a liberal-to-conservative scale in each of the three categories: economic, social, and foreign. The scores are determined by a computer-assisted calculation that ranks the members from one end of the ideological spectrum to the other based on key votes -- 53 in the House and 42 in the Senate -- that were selected by National Journal reporters and editors. Unlike ratings produced by interest groups, these scores do not dictate what a "correct" vote is.

For example, the results show that on foreign issues, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., had a conservative score of 86 and a liberal score of 5. This means that he was more conservative than 86 percent of other Senators on foreign issues and more liberal than 5 percent; he tied with the rest. On economic issues, by contrast, Lott's liberal score was 36 and his conservative score was 63, placing him closer to the center of the Senate.

Senate Ratings
In the Senate, the scores reveal that the most conservative members were predominantly junior and hailed from the South. For example, the only Senator who had perfect conservative scores in each of the three issue areas was Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark., who was first elected in 1996. Of the seven most conservative Senators, all of whom were Republican, six were first-termers and four were from the South. The next three most conservative Senators were more senior, but all from the South: Coverdell and Sens. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Interestingly, former presidential candidate John McCain, R-Ariz., was among the Republicans toward the center of the Senate in each issue area. And former Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo., Bush's controversial choice to be Attorney General, continued moving toward the middle. Although Ashcroft tied as the most conservative Senator in the 1997 and 1998 vote ratings, he ranked as the 15th-most-conservative Senator in 1999 and plummeted to the 36th-most-conservative Senator in 2000, when he faced the voters for the first time for re-election.

On the other side of the spectrum, six of the 10 most liberal Senators, all Democrats, were from the East. Strikingly, five of this group were in at least their third term; only two were first-termers. No Senate Democrat had perfect liberal scores in all three sets of issues, although three -- Barbara Boxer of California, Tom Harkin of Iowa, and Paul Wellstone of Minnesota -- missed by only one vote each.

The Senators who make up the chamber's fragile center were mostly Eastern Republicans and Southern Democrats. Including Chafee and Jeffords, the five most liberal Republican Senators were from the East; aside from Kohl, the next three most conservative Democrats were from the South. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, last year's Democratic vice presidential nominee, followed close behind these Democratic centrists in each of the three issue areas. The two Senators whose scores placed them at the precise center of the Senate were Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, both Maine Republicans. Their scores in the three issue areas were identical.

A separate statistical analysis that was prepared for these ratings by Information Technology Services at the Brookings Institution showed that the 13 Democratic Senators from the East had the most-liberal composite scores as a regional group, while the nine Southern Democrats were their party's least liberal group. The 14 Southern GOP Senators had their party's most-conservative overall scores, while the nine Eastern Republicans had their party's least-conservative scores as a region.

House Ratings
The ratings for the House found that seven members -- all Republicans -- had perfect conservative scores in each issue area; four were from the South and three from the West. With the exception of Republican Policy Committee Chairman Christopher Cox of California and Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida, who have served since 1988, all of the most consistent conservatives were first elected in 1991 or later.

Only two members -- Reps. Bob Filner, D-Calif., and Jose Serrano, D-N.Y. -- had perfect liberal scores in each area. The 10 most liberal members, all Democrats, included seven from the East (five of them from New York), two from the Midwest, and one from the West. Of this group, five are African-American and one is Hispanic.

As was the case in the Senate, the House centrists were predominantly Southern Democrats and Eastern Republicans. Of the 10 House Democrats whose composite rating fell to the right of the chamber's center, seven were from the South and two were from the Midwest, and one -- Martinez -- was from California. Included in this group was Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. of Ohio, whose vote last month to re-elect Rep. J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., as Speaker resulted in his loss of privileges within the House Democratic Caucus. Of the 13 Republicans whose composite rating leaned to the left of the House's center, eight were from the East, four from the Midwest, and one from the West. The members whose scores placed them literally at the center of the House were Republican Reps. Rick A. Lazio of New York, Jim Ramstad of Minnesota, and Fred Upton of Michigan, and Democratic Rep. Jim Barcia of Michigan.

The analysis of the House's regional groups revealed that the 71 Southern Republicans had the highest conservative scores. The least conservative GOP scores, by region, went to the 37 members from the East. The 44 Western Democrats had the highest liberal composite scores, and the 53 Southern Democrats were the least liberal, as a group.

The Fringes
These are the 20 most liberal Senators and 23 most liberal House members (all Democrats), along with the 20 most conservative Senators and 23 most conservative House members (all Republicans), based on the composite scores in National Journal's congressional vote ratings for 2000.

The Senate

Liberals (all Democrats) 93.5  Boxer, Calif. 93.2  Wellstone, Minn. 92.8  Harkin, Iowa 89.3  Durbin, Ill. 88.7  Reed, R.I. 88.7  Kennedy, Mass. 88.3  Lautenberg, N.J. 87.2  Mikulski, Md. 85.8  Dodd, Conn. 85.0  Sarbanes, Md. 84.8  Schumer, N.Y. 84.7  Akaka, Hawaii 82.3  Murray, Wash. 82.3  Levin, Mich. 81.8  Leahy, Vt. 81.8  Wyden, Ore. 81.3  Kerrey, Neb. 81.2  Daschle, S.D. 80.8  Edwards, N.C. 80.7  Moynihan, N.Y.

Conservatives (all Republicans) 95.2  Hutchinson, Ark. 92.8  Bunning, Ky. 92.8  Enzi, Wyo. 91.0  Sessions, Ala. 91.0  Smith, N.H. 90.3  Inhofe, Okla. 88.7  Allard, Colo. 88.0  Coverdell, Ga. 86.5  Helms, N.C. 86.3  McConnell, Ky. 84.8  Roberts, Kan. 82.2  Santorum, Pa. 81.7  Craig, Idaho 81.7  Thomas, Wyo. 81.5  Brownback, Kan. 80.8  Shelby, Ala. 80.2  Murkowski, Alaska 80.0  Nickles, Okla. 79.8  Lott, Miss. 79.8  Crapo, Idaho

The House

Liberals (all Democrats) 97.7  Serrano, N.Y. 97.7  Filner, Calif. 97.0  Owens, N.Y. 97.0  Davis, Ill. 96.2  McGovern, Mass. 95.8  Jackson Jr., Ill. 95.8  Hinchey, N.Y. 95.0  Capuano, Mass. 94.7  Rangel, N.Y. 94.3  Towns, N.Y. 93.7  Waxman, Calif. 93.5  Payne, N.J. 93.3  McDermott, Wash. 93.0  Rush, Ill. 93.0  Allen, Maine 93.0  Cummings, Md. 92.8  Lewis, Ga. 92.7  Pelosi, Calif. 92.7  Millender-McDonald, Calif. 92.3  Conyers Jr., Mich. 92.3  Olver, Mass. 92.0  Sawyer, Ohio 91.8  Schakowsky, Ill.

Conservatives (all Republicans) 93.5  Bryant, Tenn. 93.5  Cox, Calif. 93.5  Graham, S.C. 93.5  Hayworth, Ariz. 93.5  Johnson, Texas 93.5  Pombo, Calif. 93.5  Stearns, Fla. 91.0  Armey, Texas 91.0  Barr, Ga. 91.0  Blunt, Mo. 91.0  Brady, Texas 91.0  Cannon, Utah 91.0  Hastings, Wash. 91.0  Jones, N.C. 91.0  Riley, Ala. 91.0  Vitter, La. 91.0  Watts, Okla. 91.0  Weldon, Fla. 89.8  Bartlett, Md. 89.8  Kingston, Ga. 89.8  Miller, Calif. 89.8  Ryun, Kan. 89.8  Taylor, N.C.

The Centrists
These are the 11 most liberal Republicans and the 10 most conservative Democrats in the Senate, along with the 14 most liberal Republicans and 15 most conservative Democrats in the House. For each group, the first number indicates the member's ranking on the ideological spectrum; the second number shows his or her relevant composite liberal score or composite conservative score.

THE SENATE
Most-Liberal Republicans Jeffords, Vt.  38/66.5 Chafee, R.I.  39/66.5 Snowe, Maine  48/50.2 Collins, Maine  49/50.2 Roth Jr., Del.  50/49.2 Fitzgerald, Ill.  51/47.8 Smith, Ore.  52/45.0 Lugar, Ind.  53/42.3 Abraham, Mich.  54/41.8 DeWine, Ohio  55/41.8 Voinovich, Ohio  56/41.8	Most-Conservative Democrats Kohl, Wis.  54/39.5 Byrd, W.Va.  55/39.2 Breaux, La.  56/38.8 Cleland, Ga.  57/38.5 Conrad, N.D.  58/38.0 Lieberman, Conn.  59/35.5 Landrieu, La.  60/33.8 Torricelli, N.J.  61/33.5 Hollings, S.C.  64/33.3 Reid, Nev.  65/31.5

THE HOUSE
Most-Liberal Republicans Morella, Md.  151/67.7 Porter, Ill.  181/59.0 Boehlert, N.Y.  188/56.8 Horn, Calif.  190/56.5 Johnson, Conn.  196/55.0 Shays, Conn.  197/54.8 Leach, Iowa  199/53.5 Castle, Del.  207/51.5 Ganske, Iowa  208/51.3 Kelly, N.Y.  209/51.3 Houghton, N.Y.  210/51.3 Gilchrest, Md.  213/50.8 Ramstad, Minn.  215/50.3 Upton, Mich.  217/49.7	Most-Conservative Democrats Hall, Texas  73/80.5 Martinez, Calif.**  155/66.7 Lucas, Ky.  166/65.2 Shows, Miss.  189/59.2 McIntyre, N.C.  192/58.5 Taylor, Miss.  202/56.0 Traficant, Ohio  207/55.0 Stenholm, Texas  210/53.5 John, La.  211/53.3 Danner, Mo.  213/52.3 Barcia, Mich.  220/49.8 Phelps, Ill.  222/49.5 Skelton, Mo.  224/49.2 Forbes, N.Y.  225/48.8 Holden, Pa.  230/48.3

*Rank among 433 House members. (Hastert and Vento do not have composite ratings.)
**Switched to Republican Party in July 2000.

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