TIME Magazine Names 10 Best and 5 Worst Senators

[liberalpragmatist]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/health/8749006/detail.html

Ten Best (Not Ranked):

* Thad Cochran (R-Miss)
* Kent Conrad (D-ND)
* Dick Durbin (D-IL)
* Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
* Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
* Carl Levin (D-MI)
* Richard Lugar (R-IN)
* John McCain (R-AZ)
* Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
* Arlen Specter (R-PA)

Five Worst (Not Ranked):

* Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
* Wayne Allard (R-CO)
* Jim Bunning (R-KY)
* Conrad Burns (R-MT)
* Mark Dayton (R-MN)


***

Click the link above for an explanation of why each one was chosen.

The Republicans, according to this list, have more on the "best" list (6/10); they also have more on the "worst list" (3/5). Some good inclusions - nice to see Ted Kennedy get his due. There are still a couple baffling inclusions, though. Even from a totally nonpartisan standpoint, evaluating senators by effectiveness, constituent services, ability to work both sides of the aisle, I can't comprehend JON KYL on the list of "Ten Best," and while Arlen Spector may have had a good record in the past, he strikes me as wholly ineffective nowadays in the face of a right-wing onslaught. And Dayton hardly strikes me as one of the 5 worst; he may be somewhat weak. Where the hell is INHOFE on the worst list (probably couldn't tilt the "worst" list towards 4/5 Republicans). For a Dem senator for the worst list, I'd probably have included Max Baucus.

As for the "Best" list, Russ Feingold should definitely be on the "best" list. Perhaps Chuck Schumer as well - for all his faults, he's very effective as a legislator. Robert Byrd should be on the best list as well. Jack Reed has been very good. I'd have liked to see Kerry on the list too, but given how polarizing his name is, it's unlikely they would have included him. Of course, almost everybody on DU would like Boxer on there. And, for a little balance, a Republican non-inclusion on the best list? Maybe John Warner (R-Va.), who at least seems principled and from what I've read is pretty effective.

[Mind_your_head]

1. Can you say 'propaganda' by the corporate shills???

:rofl:

More of 'tellin' people who aren't paying attention what to think!?!?!?!

Lame, lame, lame.....

on edit:

Cornyn? Where's Cornyn on the 'worst' list?....the guy should be on (graciously given) welfare he's so stupid!

[Timbuk3]

2. I'll have to read the link...

Seems like Reid's been pretty effective for a minority leader, and he's not there.

Specter and Snowe? They give ineffective lip service to principle but when it's time to vote on anything that matters they go with the party line. Tom Carper could use a primary challenger, too.

And then there's the frothy mixture...

Not having read this yet I'm guessing, but is the statement that "this was REALLY hard" in there, anywhere?

[0007]

17. Joh Kyle? I fell outta of my chair on that.....When I got to John McCain

I had to check and see if I was in right forum. OMFG!!

[blondeatlast]

21. Hey, he's my Senate critter, and an unapologetic Bushbot.

:puke:

[pacalo]

3. Rubber-stampers have no business on the "best" list.

Replace them with Feingold, Kerry, Boxer, Reid, Harkin, Byrd, & Reed.

[fishwax]

4. yeah, i don't get how Inhofe doesn't make the worst list

in the words of a friend of mine from Oklahoma: if he's not the worst senator in America, he's damn close.

(by the way, I think you meant "D" rather than "R" by Mark Dayton :))

[MaineYooper]

13. maybe it's the gretzky effect?

Back in the eighties, it was said that Gretzky was so much better than the rest of the league, the NHL should give the MVP to the best player amongst the rest.

IMHO, Inhofe is so much stupider, pig-headed, close-minded than anyone else, that he's truly in a class of his own.

So, in that light, maybe Time was just giving us the worst of the rest...

(edited for grammar)

[fishwax]

22. That sounds like a very likely explanation

He certainly fits that description. :rofl::grr:

[flordehinojos]

5. Olympia Snow? Arlen Specter? John McCain? Lugar?Cochran? GIVE ME A BREAK!

}(

[progdonkey]

6. McCain on best, and no Stevens, Cornyn, Coburn, or Inhofe on worst?

yeah, this list is totally impartial.

How the fuck is that little felcher McCain one of the "best" senators? He really is someone who'll say anything or sell out to any degree in order to get elected.

And I agree with you that Warner should be on the best list, especially in place of McCain; I'll tade a disgrace to the Navy for a credit to the Marines any day (and I'm not saying that just because Warner's my senator... O8) )

[yourout]

7. you beat me to it.......Kyl, Snow, and McCain on the best..give me a big

F...ing break.

[Ian David]

8. Why aren't Byrdbrain, LIEberman, Frist, DeLay, Santorum on worst list?

[yourout]

10. That is the worst.....hands down.

[Mist]

11. Well, DeLay was a Representative, but Lieberman, Santorum, and

Frist should have made the "worst" list. In fact, the "worst" list should have been 3 or 4 times as long as the "best" list.

[leftofthedial]

9. no matter who is putting such a list together

Wayne Allard belongs on the worst list.

[wisteria]

12. Gee, I wonder how you make the "best list" ? I wonder why they ignored

all of Senator Kerry's good works this year? McCain's must be on the list because he effectively toots his own horn as much as possible and they were to lazy to actually take a look at what he has done in reality.
I don't know about you, but I am tired of the media's push towards McCain and Hillary Clinton. I wonder if by 2008, people will be so tired of hearing about them, they will vote for someone else in a protest vote.

[wellstone dem]

14. Mark Dayton on worst list is a dem

not rep. as reported

[liberalpragmatist]

18. Right, I know that

Typo, that's all

[maryallen]

15. Let's see: Thad Cochran was one of 8 or 9 Senators ...

Who voted in FAVOR OF TORTURE!!!
(Actually, he voted against McCain's ammendment to prohibit torture, so the result is the same ...)

That makes him one of the BEST SENATORS?

We are so f*cked!

[UrbScotty]

16. Yay Levin! But where's Feingold? (nt)

[liberalpragmatist]

19. For another Republican best, I'd go with Chuck Hagel - nt

[Eric J in MN]

20. That list is garbage. Mark Dayton voted against the Iraq War.

Thousand of people who were killed would still be alive if every Senator had done the same.