Seemingly I'm NOT much of a centrist after all

[Democratic Hawk]

Seemingly I'm NOT much of a centrist at all . I decided out of curiosity to find out which Senate and Representative I was most closest using the National Journal 2006 Senate and House Vote Ratings and came up with:

Senate

I found that my weighted scores were as follows:

Economics: Liberal 60 (66%); Conservative 31 (34%) - on this measure I'm closest to Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia)

Social: Conservative 41 (52%); Liberal 38 (48%) - on this measure I'm closest to Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska)

Foreign: Conservative 29 (76%); Liberal 9 (24%) - on this measure I'm closest to Trent Lott (R-Mississippi), "Kit" Bond (R-Missouri), Conrad Burns* (R-Montana), Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska), Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) & Michael Enzi (R-Wyoming)

However, put it all together and I have the following composite score:

Liberal 107 (51.4%) / Conservative 101 (48.6%) , on which my closest Senate match is Mike DeWine* (R-Ohio) , who scores:

- Economic (Liberal 52% / Conservative 47%)
- Social (Liberal 51% / Conservative 47%)
- Foreign (Conservative 50% / Liberal 47%)

House

I found that my weighted scores were as follows:

Economics: Liberal 63 (64%); Conservative 35 (36%) - on this measure I'm closest to Bobby Rush (D, Illinois-03) & Ted Strickland* (D, Ohio-06)

Social: Conservative 63 (69%); Liberal 28 (31%) - on this measure I'm closest to Katherine Harris* (R, Florida-13)

Foreign: Liberal 22 (55%); Conservative 18 (45%) - on this measure I'm closest to Allen Boyd (D, Florida-02)

However, put it all together and I have the following composite score:

Conservative 116 (50.7%) / Liberal 113 (49.3%) , on which my closest House match is Dan Boren (D, Oklahoma-02) , who scores:

- Economic (Conservative 52% / Liberal 48%)
- Social (Conservative 50% / Liberal 49%)
- Foreign (Liberal 50% / Conservative 50%)

* denotes no longer in the Senate or the House

Although, overall, both a Senate and House centrist, I'd only be close to being socially centrist in the Senate, which is possibly a truer reflection, and a foreign policy centrist in the House (my liberal score down to the fact I'd take a more liberal line on foreign aid); while I'd be the most robustly 'hawkish' Democratic senator (I don't doubt that) and, apparently, the most socially conservative Democrat in the House (though I'm skeptical as regards that)

It will be interesting to see what 2007 brings, if nothing else. Perhaps a leftward shift on House social votes, now that Democrats are setting the agenda .

Nevertheless, it would seem I'm more economically liberal, more socially conservative and more of a foreign policy hawk than I thought

Dave

[Sensei]

dude, what's with all the threads about yourself of late?

[Ban my account ffs!]

It's October in England.  He has like 9 more months of cloudy, rainy weather to look forward to.  I'd be depressed and seeking reassurance from others as well.

[Democratic Hawk]

dude, what's with all the threads about yourself of late?

Perhaps I'm relapsing into some acute narcissistic state but I hope not . Seriously, I'm beginning to think there isn't another 'Democrat' quite like me on the issues and what a lonely place it is to be

Dave

[Democratic Hawk]

It's October in England.  He has like 9 more months of cloudy, rainy weather to look forward to.  I'd be depressed and seeking reassurance from others as well.

Yes, you could say I'm a tad despondent to have discovered that I 'match-up' with Tom Coburn and Katherine Harris, on Senare foreign and House social policy votes, respectively but I'm not afflicted by Seasonal Affective Disorder

Dave

[Josh/Devilman88]

How did you find that out? I want to do it.

[Gabu]

All this tells me is that you don't get centrism by mixing leftist views and rightist views and that any attempt to call someone a centrist purely by averaging their views is misguided.

Also, I second Josh22 in asking where you go to do this.

[Hatman 🍁]

All this tells me is that you don't get centrism by mixing leftist views and rightist views and that any attempt to call someone a centrist purely by averaging their views is misguided.

Also, I second Josh22 in asking where you go to do this.

Centrist? no. Radical centrist? yes!

[Ebowed]

In my experience, people who claim to be centrist (this goes for all other ideologies btw) eventually settle into their views so well that they hold them in a more radical/militant fashion than would be considered "moderate."  I've never liked the labels centrist or moderate anyway, though.

[Democratic Hawk]

Also, I second Josh22 in asking where you go to do this.

1) Basically, you need to refer to these:

http://nationaljournal.com/voteratings/senate.htm

http://nationaljournal.com/voteratings/house.htm

These list the Senate and House votes applied in calculating vote ratings.

2) Start your score at 0 with two columns one headed 'Liberal', the other 'Conservative'

3) Do the economic votes, then the social votes, then the foreign votes

4) Take each specific vote in turn determining whether you'd have voted the Liberal line or the Conservative line, then allocate the weighted points, which are stated alongside each vote (these also indicate the winning line), for each specific vote under Liberal or Conservative

5) Add your economic, social and foreign scores up. That gives you total Liberal and Conservative points along each measure. Then divide each tally by the total number of points to get your percentage on each measure

6) Add up your total Liberal and Conservative scores then divide each by the total to find your composite Liberal and Conservative ratings

7) Finally, refer to the specific detailed lists (link here: http://nationaljournal.com/voteratings/) to ascertain which Senators and Representatives you match along each measure and overall

Dave

[Democratic Hawk]

All this tells me is that you don't get centrism by mixing leftist views and rightist views and that any attempt to call someone a centrist purely by averaging their views is misguided.

Quite. As you can see I'd have only been strictly a centrist in my Senate social and House foreign votes. To be a bona fide centrist, you'd pretty much need a centrist score, between 40 and 60, across each and every measure, like my, overall, 2006 Senate and House 'matches' Mike DeWine and Dan Boren

It will be interesting to see if 2007, now that the Democrats are setting the agenda, will see me move leftwards on social and foreign votes. I expect to be pretty much the same on economic votes

Dave

[afleitch]

It's all a question of emphasis really. As Dave said, the Dems now control the Congress; different issues will come to prominance.

I do agree with the sentiments regarding 'mixing' two opposing views to get centrism. Being economically classic liberal/right and socially classic liberal/left,  I don't think I could consider myself centrist. My social views are the most inbuilt as they are based on what I'd like to consider to be coviction and life experience. I can be swayed by rational economic arguments however.

In countries where social liberalism has effectively 'won' then I sit right of centre pushing for increased or maintained social liberalism. In the USA, there is still a long way to go to reach European levels of social liberalism; the fight is still being fought particularly on gay rights and attitudes. There I support the Democrats pushing for increased or maintained centre right solutions to economic policy

Social policy is always my top priority; that goes for protecting the rights of individuals and their personal freedoms from an intrusive state or religious influence too.

If I have time, i'll do the tally: see how it adds up.

[Democratic Hawk]

It's all a question of emphasis really. As Dave said, the Dems now control the Congress; different issues will come to prominance.

I do agree with the sentiments regarding 'mixing' two opposing views to get centrism. Being economically classic liberal/right and socially classic liberal/left,  I don't think I could consider myself centrist. My social views are the most inbuilt as they are based on what I'd like to consider to be conviction and life experience. I can be swayed by rational economic arguments however.

Yes, thus far, I can see that my social score will not be as conservative as it was in 2006

Although my economic, social and foreign policy views are pretty static, as a consequence of the GOP setting the agenda, my socially conservative views on certain issues came into prominence as well as my 'hawkish' line on defense and foreign policy

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I'm more socially centrist in a British context given that many issues on which I would take a populist to conservative line in the US are of scarce relevance to us on the eastern side of the Pond

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Economic policy is my top priority. I support an intrusive state as far as national security is concerned since I see such measures as enhancing, rather than dimishing, civil liberties from those very beings who seek to destroy them

If anything, the conclusions that I draw from this, is that I'm pretty much a populist, although one who is stridently 'hawkish'

Dave

[MODU]

Dave,

It's time to shed that ugly red avatar and embrace the light green! 

[opebo]

Dave,

It's time to shed that ugly red avatar and embrace the light green! 

Why that colour?  He's a Republican like you.

[minionofmidas]

Dave,

It's time to shed that ugly red avatar and embrace the light green! 

Why that colour?  He's a Republican like you.

No. He's a Labour man and should wear orange.

[Democratic Hawk]

Dave,

It's time to shed that ugly red avatar and embrace the light green! 

Why that colour?  He's a Republican like you.

No. He's a Labour man and should wear orange.

Yes, I'm a Labour man and it's only fitting that I sport a red D-UK avatar since I identify with the Democratic Party on the grounds that it is the more progressive of the two US parties

Dave

[MODU]

Yes, I'm a Labour man and it's only fitting that I sport a red D-UK avatar since I identify with the Democratic Party on the grounds that it is the more progressive of the two US parties

Dave

hahaha . . . Shouldn't that be blue then? 

[afleitch]

I did the score for the Senate.

With the percentages expressed in terms of 'Liberal'

Economic: 46%
Social: 68%
Foreign: 55%

On economics it puts me closest to Gordon Smith, John Warner, Jim Talent, George Voinovich

On social issues I'm closest to Debbie Stabenow. I'm also close to Ken Salazar and Herb Kohl

On foreign issues I'm closest to Mary Landrieu, Joe Lieberman and Olympia Snowe


I score pretty liberal on foreign policy due to my opposition to any policy that undermimes individual rights and freedoms and there was alot of that on the floor!

Overall I got 55.2% which puts me cloest to

Olympia Snowe

No suprises there then

[MODU]

I'll have to try this at home.

[Democratic Hawk]

Yes, I'm a Labour man and it's only fitting that I sport a red D-UK avatar since I identify with the Democratic Party on the grounds that it is the more progressive of the two US parties

Dave

hahaha . . . Shouldn't that be blue then? 

No can do I'm afraid. The GOP has some decent enough moderates but it has too many putrid reactionaries for me to ever identify with it

Dave

[MODU]

Yes, I'm a Labour man and it's only fitting that I sport a red D-UK avatar since I identify with the Democratic Party on the grounds that it is the more progressive of the two US parties

Dave

hahaha . . . Shouldn't that be blue then? 

No can do I'm afraid. The GOP has some decent enough moderates but it has too many putrid reactionaries for me to ever identify with it

Dave

See, that's why you should just go with the light green.  You can be who you are without being subjected to the stereotyping associated with the other parties. 

[Democratic Hawk]

Yes, I'm a Labour man and it's only fitting that I sport a red D-UK avatar since I identify with the Democratic Party on the grounds that it is the more progressive of the two US parties

Dave

hahaha . . . Shouldn't that be blue then? 

No can do I'm afraid. The GOP has some decent enough moderates but it has too many putrid reactionaries for me to ever identify with it

Dave

See, that's why you should just go with the light green.  You can be who you are without being subjected to the stereotyping associated with the other parties. 

For me to go light green would be tantamount to sitting on a fence

Dave

[Democratic Hawk]

And for 2007!

Senate

I found that my weighted scores were as follows:

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Economic: Liberal 62 (70%); Conservative 27 (30%) - on this measure I'm closest to Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii)

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Social: Conservative 34 (59%); Liberal 34 (41%) - on this measure I'm closest to John McCain (R-Arizona)

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Foreign: Conservative 47 (68%); Liberal 22 (32%) - on this measure I'm closest to Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahona), Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee), who score 70; Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Mel Martinez (R-Florida), Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), Judd Gregg (R-New Hampshire), who score 66

However, put it all together and I have the following composite score:

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Liberal 118 (49.0%) / Conservative 123 (51.0%) , on which my closest Senate match is Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) , who scores:

- Economic (Conservative 52% / Liberal 46%)
- Social (Conservative 49% / Liberal 49%)
- Foreign (Conservative 53% / Liberal 46%)
- Composite (Conservative 52.2% / Liberal 47.8%)

House

I found that my weighted scores were as follows:

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Economic: Liberal 87 (74%); Conservative 31 (26%) - on this measure I'm closest to Artur Davis (D, Alabama-07), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D, Florida-20), Bobby Rush (D, Illinois-01), Peter Visclosky (D, Indiana-01), John Sarbannes (D, Maryland-03), Elijah Cummings (D, Maryland-07), Michael Capuano (D, Massachusetts-08), Dale Kildee (D, Michigan-05), Carolyn Kilpatrick (D, Michigan-13), John Dingell (D, Michigan-15), Jose Serrano (D, New York-16), Tim Ryan (D, Ohio-17), Jim McDermott (D, Washington-07), who score 73

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Social: Conservative 65 (69%); Liberal 29 (31%) - on this measure I'm closest to David Dreier (R, California-26), John Campbell (R, California-48), Tom Tancredo (R, Colorado-06), Candice Miller (R, Michigan-10), Thaddues Cotter (R, Michigan-11), Denny Rehberg (R, Montana-AL), John McHugh (R, New York-23), Pat Tiberi (R, Ohio-12), Paul Ryan (R, Wisconsin-01)

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Foreign: Conservative 45 (63%); Liberal 27 (37%) - on this measure I'm closest to Mary Bono Mack (R, California-45), Dana Rochrabacher (R, California-46), Mario Diaz-Balart (R, Florida-25), Howard Coble (R, North Carolina-06), John Culberson (R, Texas-07)

However, put it all together and I have the following composite score:

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Liberal 143 (50.4%) / Conservative 141 (49.6%) , on which my closest House matches are Tim Mahoney (D, Florida-16) and Henry Cuellar (D, Texas-28) , who score

Mahoney :

- Economic (Liberal 50% / Conservative 50%)
- Social (Liberal 52% / Conservative 47%)
- Foreign (Conservative 51% / Liberal 48%)
- Composite (Liberal 50.3% / Conservative 49.7%)

Cuellar

- Economic (Conservative 53% / Liberal 47%)
- Social (Liberal 56% / Conservative 44%)
- Foreign (Conservative 51% / Liberal 48%)
- Composite (Liberal 50.5% / Conservative 49.5%)

As you can, despite Democrats now controlling Congress, the Hawk pretty much remains in a class of his own among Democrats

Dave

[Jake]

Now, if you disagree with a vote, do you allocate the opposite weight? ie, if you disagree with a L-2, do you put 2 under conservative?