Moderate Republicans get best Approval ratings

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Top 3 Republicans

Susan Collins (71% approve)
Olympia Snowe (71% approve)
John McCain (67% approve)
Ted Stevens (66% approve)


Bottom 4 Republicans

John Cornyn (40% approve)
Richard Burr (42% approve)
Mel Martinez (43% approve)
Tom Coburn (43% approve/40% disapprove)

Rick Santorum has the highest disapproval numbers in the Senate (though DeWine isn't doing so hot either)

[Keystone Phil]

Rick Santorum has the highest disapproval numbers in the Senate (though DeWine isn't doing so hot either)

Not if you go by Quinnipiac numbers which have shown Santorum's disapproval ratings hardly ever breaking out of the 30s.

[WalterMitty]

don, you know that i agree with you on most things.

however, in fairness, the reason that the conservative senators get the lowest ratings *may* be because they are very outspoken and are constantly in the news.

the moderates, by definition, dont really have strong feelings about anything (therefore they offend less people less often)

i guess mccain would be an exception because he is a media whore.  but i dont really consider him a 'moderate' anyway.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Maybe so, but I'd imagine that Susan Collins is on TV just as much in Maine as Richard Burr is in North Carolina.

And you of all people should know that Moderates not only have strong feelings, but in many cases those feelings are stronger on these important issues than those of extremists - becuase we know that policy affects real people.  We don't just pander to ideological whims.

don, you know that i agree with you on most things.

however, in fairness, the reason that the conservative senators get the lowest ratings *may* be because they are very outspoken and are constantly in the news.

the moderates, by definition, dont really have strong feelings about anything (therefore they offend less people less often)

i guess mccain would be an exception because he is a media whore.  but i dont really consider him a 'moderate' anyway.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Richard Burr (42% approve)

See? The curse of Nixon will claim another victim soon enough...

[WalterMitty]

burr's approval rating is a bit of an oddity.  he hasnt been in office long enough for many people to have a firm opinion.  i suspect most north carolinians are pretty unfamiliar with him.

burr isnt a rigid conservative either.  he is very pro-business.  he isnt a bible beater, by any means.

i like burr a lot.

[minionofmidas]

He voted against one of the Clinton impeachment charges as a Congressman. Few Southern Republicans did that.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

burr's approval rating is a bit of an oddity.

No it isn't. Nixon cursed that seat. No one has been re-elected in it since Ervin retired and no one ever will be! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ben.]

And you of all people should know that Moderates not only have strong feelings, but in many cases those feelings are stronger on these important issues than those of extremists - becuase we know that policy affects real people.  We don't just pander to ideological whims.

Don beats me to it.

It is very easy to be an ideologue, being an ideologue means no matter what the situation you have the easy answer and nothing is ever grey its always black and white… for moderates it is much harder you have to treat every situation separately and while your principles may not change the application of those principles can change. Politicians where elected to do a job which impacts on real people and they should think of their constituents first and their ideology second and to few politicians do that these days.

I think the British Labour leader Neil Kinnock launched the best assault on unreconstructed ideologues back in the eighties when he said to the Labour Party conference…

“…implausible promises don’t win vicotires. I’ll tell you what happens with impossible promises, You start with far fetched resolutions. They are then pickled into a ridgid dogma, a code, and you go through the years sticking to that, outdated misplaced irrelevant to the real needs and you end in the grotesque chaos of a labour council, a labour council! Hiring taxis to scuttle round a city handing out redundancy notices to its own workers! I am telling you, no matter how enterianing, how fulfilling ogf short term egos – I’m telling you and you’ll listen – you can’t play poltics with peoples jobs and with their services or with their homes…”       

Principles do not change, not just politician's principles but the principles ordinary hard working people live their lives by don’t change, not much, but the commonsensical application of those principles is forever changing… and that’s something ideologues just don’t get, because “the people” never feature in their calculations in any real sense while for moderates the views, needs and aspirations of “the people” are at the very heart of their interpretation of what should be done. 

…been a long time since I had a little ramble                

[A18]

The thing about these new senators, is it might be better to look at their net approval ratings. I am surprised to see Coburn so low, but I'm not very experienced with Senate polling data.

[WMS]

And you of all people should know that Moderates not only have strong feelings, but in many cases those feelings are stronger on these important issues than those of extremists - becuase we know that policy affects real people.  We don't just pander to ideological whims.

Don beats me to it.

It is very easy to be an ideologue, being an ideologue means no matter what the situation you have the easy answer and nothing is ever grey its always black and white… for moderates it is much harder you have to treat every situation separately and while your principles may not change the application of those principles can change. Politicians where elected to do a job which impacts on real people and they should think of their constituents first and their ideology second and to few politicians do that these days.

I think the British Labour leader Neil Kinnock launched the best assault on unreconstructed ideologues back in the eighties when he said to the Labour Party conference…

“…implausible promises don’t win vicotires. I’ll tell you what happens with impossible promises, You start with far fetched resolutions. They are then pickled into a ridgid dogma, a code, and you go through the years sticking to that, outdated misplaced irrelevant to the real needs and you end in the grotesque chaos of a labour council, a labour council! Hiring taxis to scuttle round a city handing out redundancy notices to its own workers! I am telling you, no matter how enterianing, how fulfilling ogf short term egos – I’m telling you and you’ll listen – you can’t play poltics with peoples jobs and with their services or with their homes…”       

Principles do not change, not just politician's principles but the principles ordinary hard working people live their lives by don’t change, not much, but the commonsensical application of those principles is forever changing… and that’s something ideologues just don’t get, because “the people” never feature in their calculations in any real sense while for moderates the views, needs and aspirations of “the people” are at the very heart of their interpretation of what should be done. 

…been a long time since I had a little ramble                

Good to see you back in the Forum.

[The Duke]

Ted Stevens pays people to like him, so throw that number out.

[The Vorlon]

Top 3 Republicans

Susan Collins (71% approve)
Olympia Snowe (71% approve)
John McCain (67% approve)
Ted Stevens (66% approve)


Bottom 4 Republicans

John Cornyn (40% approve)
Richard Burr (42% approve)
Mel Martinez (43% approve)
Tom Coburn (43% approve/40% disapprove)

Rick Santorum has the highest disapproval numbers in the Senate (though DeWine isn't doing so hot either)

How did maine get so damn lucky?

[Ben.]

And you of all people should know that Moderates not only have strong feelings, but in many cases those feelings are stronger on these important issues than those of extremists - becuase we know that policy affects real people.  We don't just pander to ideological whims.

Don beats me to it.

It is very easy to be an ideologue, being an ideologue means no matter what the situation you have the easy answer and nothing is ever grey its always black and white… for moderates it is much harder you have to treat every situation separately and while your principles may not change the application of those principles can change. Politicians where elected to do a job which impacts on real people and they should think of their constituents first and their ideology second and to few politicians do that these days.

I think the British Labour leader Neil Kinnock launched the best assault on unreconstructed ideologues back in the eighties when he said to the Labour Party conference…

“…implausible promises don’t win vicotires. I’ll tell you what happens with impossible promises, You start with far fetched resolutions. They are then pickled into a ridgid dogma, a code, and you go through the years sticking to that, outdated misplaced irrelevant to the real needs and you end in the grotesque chaos of a labour council, a labour council! Hiring taxis to scuttle round a city handing out redundancy notices to its own workers! I am telling you, no matter how enterianing, how fulfilling ogf short term egos – I’m telling you and you’ll listen – you can’t play poltics with peoples jobs and with their services or with their homes…”       

Principles do not change, not just politician's principles but the principles ordinary hard working people live their lives by don’t change, not much, but the commonsensical application of those principles is forever changing… and that’s something ideologues just don’t get, because “the people” never feature in their calculations in any real sense while for moderates the views, needs and aspirations of “the people” are at the very heart of their interpretation of what should be done. 

…been a long time since I had a little ramble                

Good to see you back in the Forum.

I'll try to hover around as much as work permits from now on, its been awhile since i was able to post regularly but hopefully i'll have the time to do so now.

[WMS]

And you of all people should know that Moderates not only have strong feelings, but in many cases those feelings are stronger on these important issues than those of extremists - becuase we know that policy affects real people.  We don't just pander to ideological whims.

Don beats me to it.

It is very easy to be an ideologue, being an ideologue means no matter what the situation you have the easy answer and nothing is ever grey its always black and white… for moderates it is much harder you have to treat every situation separately and while your principles may not change the application of those principles can change. Politicians where elected to do a job which impacts on real people and they should think of their constituents first and their ideology second and to few politicians do that these days.

I think the British Labour leader Neil Kinnock launched the best assault on unreconstructed ideologues back in the eighties when he said to the Labour Party conference…

“…implausible promises don’t win vicotires. I’ll tell you what happens with impossible promises, You start with far fetched resolutions. They are then pickled into a ridgid dogma, a code, and you go through the years sticking to that, outdated misplaced irrelevant to the real needs and you end in the grotesque chaos of a labour council, a labour council! Hiring taxis to scuttle round a city handing out redundancy notices to its own workers! I am telling you, no matter how enterianing, how fulfilling ogf short term egos – I’m telling you and you’ll listen – you can’t play poltics with peoples jobs and with their services or with their homes…”       

Principles do not change, not just politician's principles but the principles ordinary hard working people live their lives by don’t change, not much, but the commonsensical application of those principles is forever changing… and that’s something ideologues just don’t get, because “the people” never feature in their calculations in any real sense while for moderates the views, needs and aspirations of “the people” are at the very heart of their interpretation of what should be done. 

…been a long time since I had a little ramble                

Good to see you back in the Forum.

I'll try to hover around as much as work permits from now on, its been awhile since i was able to post regularly but hopefully i'll have the time to do so now.

Hey, whatever works. I tend to post from work, because that's the only place I have any time to post.