Barack Obama: the most liberal Senator of 2007

by Jennifer Rubin
05/20/2008

Excerpt:
In short, he started out liberal and moved left in every year.

And if there are any doubts about this particular ranking system, other interest groups are on to him as well. He sports a 100% rating from NARAL for each year in the Senate (2005-2007). He received a zero rating from National Right to Life. In 2007 National Taxpayers Union gave him an “F.” Americans for Tax Reform gave him a zero in 2005 and a 16 in 2006. The American Conservative Union gave him 8% in 2006. In 2004 based on answers to its questionnaire NRA gave him an “F.” Well, you get the point.

What is missing in all this? Any indication on any issue of significance, whether foreign or domestic policy, on which he was willing to deviate from the most extreme liberal positions. For example, even when many of his Democratic colleagues voted to confirm Chief Justice Roberts he stuck with the core of 22 of the most liberal Senators to vote against the ABA-rated “well qualified” nominee.

Obama is found of saying that he will usher in a new era of bipartisanship and bridge the divide between the parties. But it is worth asking: why didn’t he do so it in the three years in the Senate and with each passing year move farther from the political center? Did he ever cross swords with any liberal special interest group or reject the entreaties of Big Labor? If his record on union issues (e.g. opposing the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, favoring repeal of NAFTA and seeking repeal of secret ballot union elections) gives you any hint the answer is: never. the rest image

Thoughts on “Roman Catholics for Obama ’08”-By Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of Denver