Obama: Most Liberal Senator last year

[RoadRage]

(CNN) — Barack Obama has demonstrated his appeal to independent voters and even some Republicans as he campaigns for president, though a just-released study from the National Journal indicates the Illinois Democrat was the most liberal senator in 2007.

Chief rival Hillary Clinton held the 16th most liberal voting record last year, the non-partisan survey of 99 major Senate votes found.

The study also shows both senators have moved to the left compared to previous years. In 2005 — Obama's first year in the Senate — he was ranked the 16th most liberal, and he came in at number 10 in 2006. Hillary Clinton has long held a moderate voting record: she debuted on the list at number 25 in 2001, and has been as high as 34. In 2006, the New York senator was ranked 32.

Here is the rest of the article: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

[Radical Activist]

1. That shouldn't be a surprise for anyone

who looks at Obama's actual record instead of far fetched spin on some blogs about how conservative he's supposed to be.

[RoadRage]

3. Yeah.. i was actually shocked myself.

I think i've been spending too much time at DU, hearing about Obama as "Republican Lite" that I was surprised to see it, and i've been on the Obama wagon since day one!

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

2. Hmmm. I'm liking that.

Maybe when my Edwards grief is fully assuaged, I can begin focusing on Obama.

[RoadRage]

10. Just compare both records.. i'm not sure if this is an actual reflection of his vote or not..NT

[bigdarryl]

4. But we have misinformed people on hear who say he's republican like

[Mass]

5. A lot of BS. It would be nice if the NJ stopped with that.

Obama is NOT the most liberal Senator. He is more liberal than Clinton, but certainly not more liberal than Sanders, for example.

If you look at the votes, there is ONE vote where Obama voted more liberal than Clinton. It is a vote on open government (which is a reason why I support him, BTW). All the other votes where both voted are identical. The only difference is that the NJ consider the "non voting" votes as liberal votes.

[RoadRage]

7. I didn't write the article.. CNN did.

I don't know how they calculated that "tally".. i'm just reporting what is on the front page of CNN.com right now - which is that "Obama was the most liberal senator last year", and Clinton was 16th.

Don't shoot the messanger!

[Mass]

8. And my reaction was to CNN and the NJ, not you.

And to Obama's supporters who find that great, when this will be held against him in the general election.

[RoadRage]

9. I'm not sure if I find it Great.. i find it ironic that people push that he's "Republican Lite". NT

[maximusveritas]

11. Agreed. It's worthless. Their rankings prior to this year

are still worth looking at, but this year's ranking is just a joke.

[redqueen]

6. I guess nobody searches anymore...

what the hell, I'll say it again:

These ratings systems are useless... they put important votes on the same scale as routine ones...

Obama voted for the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and the Oman Trade Agreement.

Hillary didn't.

I guess I'll wait for the next time this is posted and try again...

[Fresh_Start]

12. this system counts missed votes as liberal votes

Obama missed 30+ votes.