Extremist Senators

[Maxie the Taxi]

Hey Harlan,

You've titled this thread "Extremist Senators." Since you were the first among us to use this term, what the hell is your definition of "Extremist?"

(I might be prepared to agree with your premise, depending on your definition.)

[HowardRoark]

Hey Harlan,

You've titled this thread "Extremist Senators." Since you were the first among us to use this term, what the hell is your definition of "Extremist?"

(I might be prepared to agree with your premise, depending on your definition.)

I agree with this. From a Conservative point of view, I would say letting a baby born premature to die alone in a closet is extreme. From a Liberal's point of view, this may not be extreme at all. It truly is a matter of definition. I could start a laundry list of "extreme" liberal views.

What are extreme Conservatives? Again, a real question.

[falco]

i can't stand the dems or the repubs, but i do wish evan bayh would have run, he's a guy i could get behind (not in a gay way though) (not that theres anything wrong with that)

[falco]

Hey Harlan,

You've titled this thread "Extremist Senators." Since you were the first among us to use this term, what the hell is your definition of "Extremist?"

(I might be prepared to agree with your premise, depending on your definition.)

I agree with this. From a Conservative point of view, I would say letting a baby born premature to die alone in a closet is extreme. From a Liberal's point of view, this may not be extreme at all. It truly is a matter of definition. I could start a laundry list of "extreme" liberal views.

What are extreme Conservatives? Again, a real question.

i would be against that scenario with the baby, unless of course it was you, in which case someone would be doing us all a favor

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Hey Harlan,

You've titled this thread "Extremist Senators." Since you were the first among us to use this term, what the hell is your definition of "Extremist?"

(I might be prepared to agree with your premise, depending on your definition.)

I agree with this. From a Conservative point of view, I would say letting a baby born premature to die alone in a closet is extreme. From a Liberal's point of view, this may not be extreme at all. It truly is a matter of definition. I could start a laundry list of "extreme" liberal views.

What are extreme Conservatives? Again, a real question.

i would be against that scenario with the baby, unless of course it was you, in which case someone would be doing us all a favor

Burn!

[bobblehead]

Hey Harlan,

You've titled this thread "Extremist Senators." Since you were the first among us to use this term, what the hell is your definition of "Extremist?"

(I might be prepared to agree with your premise, depending on your definition.)

I agree with this. From a Conservative point of view, I would say letting a baby born premature to die alone in a closet is extreme. From a Liberal's point of view, this may not be extreme at all. It truly is a matter of definition. I could start a laundry list of "extreme" liberal views.

What are extreme Conservatives? Again, a real question.

I think the big problem here is that if Ty or HH put into policy what they consider an extreme republican I would probably say "cool, elect him". I am socially a moderate/liberal, but as I've said all along, my liberal social views end at the exact point that you ask me to pay for someone elses "rights". I'm even prochoice up to 11 weeks, but to tell me that the gov't has to pay for abortions....well, I got issues with that.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

First off, the NJ ranking system is a joke. And, what a surprise, that the past 2 dem nominees are the most liberal.

Why do i say that? Senators’ scores are based on three categories — economic policy, social policy, and foreign policy. Kerry didn’t have enough votes in two of the categories, but National Journal gave him a score anyway, announced that he was the chamber’s #1 liberal, and gave Republicans a hammer they used every day for months. Four years later, National Journal is now willing to concede that the rating was a sham — a flawed result based on a flawed methodology.


And even today, the methodology is suspect. Charles Green argues that some senators weren’t given scores if they missed too many votes. Obama missed a full third of the 99 votes used for the ratings, but that wasn’t enough to disqualify him from the rankings. Why not? Because National Journal’s arbitrary standards, known only to the publication’s editors, say so.

The whole conserv vs. liberal is a joke when assigning values to yes or no votes.

Why is, for example, requiring 100% inspections of shipping containers for national security threats a “liberal” position? How is establishing English as the official language a “conservative” position? Is a position “conservative” or “liberal” for cutting subsidies to private business to offer student loans? This study says it is “liberal” to do so, although that position is practically of no difference from Ron Paul’s!

Any ranking system that has Biden more liberal than Feingold or Sanders has to be taken with a grain of salt.

This is philistinism masquerading as social science — it’s the U.S. News College Guide of Washington politics.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Hey Harlan,

You've titled this thread "Extremist Senators." Since you were the first among us to use this term, what the hell is your definition of "Extremist?"

(I might be prepared to agree with your premise, depending on your definition.)

I just meant people who are on the far edge of the democratic or republican party. For instance, Dennis Kusinich or Maxine Watters are far left in the Dem Party. Dan Burton, John Boehner on right in Republican Party. These people almost always are found in the House, not the Senate.

Joe Biden is not like Dennis Kusinich.

[mraynrand]

I tried the same thing for extreme repubs.

I totally agree with this. John Wayne: proud, faithful, confident in his ideals, tough-minded, smart, true and blue American and Homer Simpson, a basic, God-fearing, generally good-natured, middle American with foibles that all non-elitists have. Right on the money Ty.

[mraynrand]

Hey Harlan,

You've titled this thread "Extremist Senators." Since you were the first among us to use this term, what the hell is your definition of "Extremist?"

(I might be prepared to agree with your premise, depending on your definition.)

I just meant people who are on the far edge of the democratic or republican party. For instance, Dennis Kusinich or Maxine Watters are far left in the Dem Party. Dan Burton, John Boehner on right in Republican Party. These people almost always are found in the House, not the Senate.

Joe Biden is not like Dennis Kusinich.

Harlan, there are 100 Senators and 435 reps. Thus the Bell curve is taller with wider tails, allowing for even more fruit loops at the extremes. There's nothing wrong with your idea that the House is more extreme than the Senate, but that doesn't negate the fact that the Senate has it's extreme members. Still, I'd like you to tell me how Boehner is extreme to the right the same way Kucinich or a Tubbs-Jones is (was) to the left. What is the right's equivalent of those calling for impeachment, those witnessing Aliens/UFOs and those and blocking election result certification?

[Kiwon]

Joe Biden is not like Dennis Kusinich.

He's also not as centrist as Hillary Clinton.

Clinton gets 18,000,000 votes in the Primary.

More votes than Obama and Biden COMBINED.

So why is she kicked to the curb in favor of a someone who got 170,000 votes?

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/1077828/Hillary-Clinton-Got-More-Popular-Votes-than-Barack-Obama-and-Joe-Biden-Combined

[Tyrone Bigguns]

I tried the same thing for extreme repubs.

I totally agree with this. John Wayne: proud, faithful, confident in his ideals, tough-minded, smart, true and blue American and Homer Simpson, a basic, God-fearing, generally good-natured, middle American with foibles that all non-elitists have. Right on the money Ty.

It is no wonder you have such problems. That isn't john wayne, that is a character in a movie. A cowboy. LOL

Smart: How so? College degree? No. Actor. Yes.

Wayne: NOt willing to fight for his country. Yep...just like a long line of conservatives.

Values: Married 3 times..FAMILY VALUES!!!!

Wayne, "Ibelieve in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility." And, people wonder why conservatives are linked with racism.

Homer: He is a moron. I guess you haven't watched the show.

[mraynrand]

Wayne: NOt willing to fight for his country. Yep...just like a long line of conservatives.

I thought you said it wasn't Wayne, but a character in the movies. I'll go with that - the Character Wayne represents - that's what I was talking about. Just in case you're confused, Homer isn't a real guy either.

[mraynrand]

Homer: He is a moron. I guess you haven't watched the show.

In case you didn't look at your own post, it was Wayne + Homer. Even a moron (IQ 70) knows that if you add IQ 70 + IQ of the John Wayne character (about 120) - you get 190 - a genius. You really ought to try to keep up.

[Maxie the Taxi]

Hey Harlan,

You've titled this thread "Extremist Senators." Since you were the first among us to use this term, what the hell is your definition of "Extremist?"

(I might be prepared to agree with your premise, depending on your definition.)

I just meant people who are on the far edge of the democratic or republican party. For instance, Dennis Kusinich or Maxine Watters are far left in the Dem Party. Dan Burton, John Boehner on right in Republican Party. These people almost always are found in the House, not the Senate.

Joe Biden is not like Dennis Kusinich.

By your definition, I tend to agree with you. The reasons stated by mraynrand below are sensible. However, your point that congressional districts are small while states are large is the diciding factor which leads to those holding more extreme views being elected.

All that being said, I don't think your defintion of extreme has anything to do with liberal vs conservative. I think it has more to do with nut case democrats vs nut case republicans. In other words, IMO your "extreme" = "nut case."

If we try to compare "doctrinaire" liberals to "doctrinaire" conservatives (doctrinaire meaning holding views closest to the liberal or conservative ideal) I think both ends of that spectrum can be found in the Senate.

Without a doubt Barack Obama is a doctrinaire liberal. His views or votes are rarely sullied by considerations other than political philosophy. At the other end of the spectrum, take Sen. Burr from NC.

I know Burr very well. He was my congressman in NC. His views are virtually always determined by his political philosophy of hard core conservatism.

Obviously, partisan politics always play a part in an organization like the Senate, but I would argue that the further to the top and bottom of the list the less partisan politics are at work.

The truth is the Democratic Party does not equal the ideal of liberal political philosophy and the Republican Party does not equal the ideal of conservative political philosophy. The political philosophy "ideals" of these respective political parties can probably be found in the center.