I keep hearing that Hillary was the 8th or 9th most-liberal Senator

[Jackpine Radical]

while in office. This doesn't really comport with my impressions of reality, so I have a few questions.

How was the instrument used to measure this validated?

What were the independent criteria used in the validation study?

What was the operational definition of "liberal?"

Was the data set factor-analyzed? Is "liberalism" a multifactorial concept, or did a single vector account for most of the variance?


Inquiring minds (aka people who have some fucking idea of what measurement theory is all about) would like to know.

Does anyone have a copy of the original study from a peer-reviewed source? I'd like to see it.

[Scootaloo]

1. My understanding is that it's a largely absolutist measurement that doesn't actually count intent

Say there's a spending bill.

Republican A votes against the bill because he's against government spending, period.
Democrat B votes against the bill because of the massive payouts to third-party contractors and an anti-choice rider.

Both votes, since they are against a spending bill, are counted as "conservative."

[Jackpine Radical]

3. Where is it from?

It sounds like a pretty flaky device, actually.

[okaawhatever]

8. Each report varies, but the Natonal Journal weighs each vote also by how many other senators or

representatives also voted for that bill.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/pictures-video/the-15-most-liberal-senators-20140206

Voting with the herd doesn't rank as high as those votes where fewer Democrats voted for them.

Better explained in this article (with more explanation at the link)

This year, the vote ratings of another Massachusetts Democrat are eye-catching, but for the opposite reason. Elizabeth Warren, the newest liberal icon, is not the most liberal member of the Senate, according to this year's National Journal vote ratings. Warren's composite liberal score of 73.2 places her as the 31st-most-liberal senator. How could that be?

For starters, she broke with President Obama on a very significant piece of legislation, voting to repeal Obamacare's medical-device tax—a core element to the funding of the Affordable Care Act. Many manufacturers are based in Massachusetts, so this is an instance of her voting her constituency over her party. She didn't stop there, joining with many Republicans to "repeal or reduce the estate tax" if done in a fiscally responsible way. Warren even irked consumer advocates by opposing a measure that would have allowed states to mandate labeling of foods that contain genetically modified ingredients. Those differences gave her a liberal percentile score of 75 on economic policy.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/2013-vote-ratings/why-elizabeth-warren-isn-t-the-most-liberal-senator-20140206

One source of scoring that I found out is a joke is a right winger from England who has started up

[4139]

2. National Journal does the ranking but i can't find comets listing ha me when Hillary was a senator..

Here's 2012 http://www.nationaljournal.com/2012-vote-ratings/how-liberal-is-your-senator-2012-vote-ratings-20130221

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Wow. Bernie ranks as #32, right near Herb Kohl (33),

and substantially more conservative than DiFi, who comes in at 26.

What a wonderful, precise and elegant instrument!

[Scootaloo]

10. I kinda wonder what the criteria on the "foreign" column is

'Cause that seems to be the wobbly point. I imagine it must be a very weird criteria - Chuck Schumer, who's a fan of bombing iran and has argued that the people in Gaza deserve to be strangled for not believing in Torah, has a better "liberal" ranking than Sanders.

[4139]

4. Oops, found the past rankings...

http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/past-years-national-journal-vote-ratings-20130213

[Evergreen Emerald]

5. "My impressions of reality"

DU certainly shouts from the rooftops a single message regarding Clinton. But, the information on DU is far from reality.

[cali]

6. Much is accurate. Much isn't. Much is opinion.

and no, it isn't a single message.

In any case, those NJ ratings are utter nonsense. Does anyone actually believe that Chuck Shumer is the most liberal Senator and Bernie is the 37th most liberal?

[Thinkingabout]

9. Hillary was ranked number eleven.

http://crooksandliars.com/2015/04/hillary-clinton-was-11th-most-liberal

[cali]

11. and that ranking stuff is silly. NJ has Chuck Schumer as the most liberal Senator

and Bernie as the 37th. Chuck? seriously? hell, even Pat Leahy who is known as being one of the most liberal Senators for a period of 40 years, isn't in the top 15. Neither is Barbara Boxer.

[Thinkingabout]

13. Did you read the link or just jump on a reply?

[JaneyVee]

12. It fluctuates from year to year. That was her final year.