How progressive is Obama? He got a "C" from The Drum Major Institute, a great progressive think tank

[Tejanocrat]

For those who are unfamiliar with the GREAT Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, it is a non-profit think tank generating the ideas that fuel the progressive movement, with an emphasis on protecting the middle class and promoting progressive policies to advance social and economic justice.

The Drum Major Institute graded all the Senators and Representatives on their votes to protect the middle class. Obama earned a "C" -- a worse grade than Kucinich, Biden, Dodd, and Hillary (Edwards and Richardson were not graded because they aren't in the Senate or House).

I'm taking a second look at Obama. I want to continue to believe he's better than Hillary. I'd be glad to hear policy-based arguments reaffirming why Obama is all that much better than Hillary.

[Progress And Change]

1. clinton got an A, Obama a C

Where Obama sided with corporate interests, not the people, in the eight major bills the Institute used to calculate a grade were bills on so-called tort reform and an energy bill. Follow the money... Obama is heavily funded by the nuclear and coal industries so he is hardly a friend of the environment. That likely explains his vote there. On so-called tort reform he sided with corporate interests in general. This is not surprising given that his top contributor is Goldman Sachs and he has a lot of corporate backing overall.

[geek tragedy]

2. 6/8 votes.

Big deal.

[Progress And Change]

3. he was wrong on two important bills. clinton was right on all 8

One would expect the opposite if what ObamaNation says about Obama and Clinton were true...

[Progress And Change]

5. 6/8 votes, just like Lieberman, Bill Nelson, and Landrieu...

But hey, he never formally signed up for the DLC so...

[sandnsea]

52. One being the rather shitty Energy Bill

And these bills are all aimed at the upper 20% "middle class", not poor folks, anyway.

[HughMoran]

4. Woohooo!

This oughta turn the tide against Obama!

lol

[Zueda]

6. meh...

The founder, William Wachtel, doesn't look to be a very credible person.

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/wachtelpetition

[Progress And Change]

7. the Drum Major Institute is a great progressive think tank with a focus on the middle-class

Will the ObamaNation trash another progressive institution in its scorched earth policy to remove anything in the way of Obama's coronation? :eyes:

[Zueda]

8. for crying out loud..did you read that petition?

[Progress And Change]

14. do you know anything about the progressive pro-middle-class org you are attacking?

[Tejanocrat]

36. The on-line petition signed by EIGHT whole people including bigtitspics007 and lesbiansexpics007?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Zueda]

39. What do you have against...

Bigtits and Lesbians?

[BootinUp]

45. This is hillarious. n/t

[silverweb]

9. Okay.

So out of a total of eight votes, he voted "no" twice.

I'm sure you're savvy enough to know that there are often provisions in bills which taint them in various ways, even enough to make them completely unpalatable without revision.

Instead of a blanket snub for two "no" votes, why don't you investigate why Obama voted no on those bills?

[Progress And Change]

11. yeah, just like LIEBERMAN, Bill Nelson, and Landrieu

Here is who voted against so-called tort reform:

NAYs ---26
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Biden (D-DE)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Clinton (D-NY)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reid (D-NV)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Wyden (D-OR)

Guess who voted for it? Notice anything about these names?

YEAs ---72
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Burr (R-NC)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kohl (D-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-NE)
Obama (D-IL)
Reed (D-RI)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Schumer (D-NY)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)

[Tejanocrat]

65. I was sort of hoping someone who knew Obama's record better than me might know the answer to that.

[ClarkUSA]

10. National Journal comprehensively ranked Senators based on 82 key votes & rated Obama most liberal...

Out of all the presidential candidates. IWR/Kyl-Lieberman Clinton rates an A? Sounds like someone there at that "think tank" is a Clinton supporter

The well-respected National Journal rated all 99 Senators and found Obama was the most liberal of all the Democratic presidential candidates. The Journal rates and ranks lawmakers on how they vote relative to each other on a conservative-to-liberal scale in both the Senate and the House.

The Journal’s scores are based on the members' votes in three areas: economic issues, social issues, and foreign policy. This year’s scores were based on 82 key roll-call votes in the Senate and 95 in the House during 2006.

Here's the link to their methodology and their findings:
http://nationaljournal.com/voteratings/

[Progress And Change]

12. nice attempt to distract. The Drum Major Institute is about middle-class issues, not foreign policy

[BeyondGeography]

16. And Obama is a notorious threat to the middle class

I forget, who is your candidate again?

[ClarkUSA]

18. heh

Getting drafty again, eh? ;)

[BeyondGeography]

23. I've concluded the original draft was superior

Still, I have my, um, concerns...

[ClarkUSA]

48. Hmmm... I believe the second version is holding back

His reactions to me about being Drafty have been odd, to say the least. It's wise to be concerned.

[BeyondGeography]

58. We agree

The sheer volume of posts is eerily familiar. And check this out (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3815299). To be continued...

[ClarkUSA]

17. Cherrypicking votes just won't do. The Journal ranked Senators on 82 key votes in 2006.

Sorry to burst your hot-air ballon, Mario.

[Progress And Change]

22. what was its criteria? Drum Major is think tank about middle-class issues

The National Journal is a political punditry outfit, right?

What is with this Mario garbage? Is that supposed to be some sort of anti-Italian slur?

[BeyondGeography]

26. You remind a lot of us of a guy named Mario

but you're not as skillful in your approach, so, in honor of his memory, we'll stop.

[Progress And Change]

34. whatever you wish. thanks for clearing that up

[ClarkUSA]

50. Go to the link and find out, if you're really interested in the facts

The Journal is a top political research outfit where Charlie Cook polls. Subscriptions to their political insights cost about $2K yearly.
The methodology of their 2006 rankings is 100 times more comprehensive than Drum Major, so I'd say their conclusions give a more
complete picture of candidates than a few cherrypicked one-issue votes.

[ellacott]

55. So he's the former poster Mario?

Interesting

[mtnsnake]

59. If you mean that draft mario dude, hell no he isn't. nt

[ClarkUSA]

64. Hmm...

Let's just say it got drafty here over the weekend and the hot air is still blowing. ;-)

[Progress And Change]

19. the national journal also rated kerry as the most liberal senator and edwards 4th

You said it rated Obama the most liberal of all candidates. That is a nice sleight of hand that Obama would be proud of. That was only true for 2006 and with respect to current senators Obama, Biden, Dodd, Clinton. It did not include Kucinich, Richardson who have never been in the senate and former senators Edwards and Gravel.

[rodeodance]

13. i have always thought that obama and hil are pretty much alike.

[Zueda]

15. Sounds like someone who might push for more crappy ass free trade.

"Mr. Wachtel is the founding partner of Wachtel & Masyr, a law firm comprised of approximately 30 attorneys specializing in domestic and international business transactions and litigations."

on edit: the more I read about this group the more i'm proud that they don't seem to like Obama.

[Maven]

20. K/R

Why is he different from Hillary?

It's because when he votes to Change people's right to sue corporations for injuries, he Hopes no one will notice.

[Progress And Change]

25. let me correct you. its is "Hope" © not Hope. you don't want to get sued by the Obama camp

Since you are not a corporation Obama did not limit his right to sue you. ;)

[Maven]

37. Yes, I forgot

they're registered trademarks of Barack Obama, Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oprah Corp. All rights reserved.

[Progress And Change]

40. hey, if they went after krugman they would not hesitate to attack lowly dems like us!

;)

[madrchsod]

21. they have lane evans at 88%

because he voted wrong once. lane evans was the most progressive democratic in illinois until he retired do to his health. there was`t another democrat in illinois that was a better person or politician than him. i guess they really do`t know the man and what he did for his district and the people of this country.

this is from 2005 so where is the update?

[jefferson_dem]

24. Andrew Young, chairman

Just sayin'...

[BootinUp]

27. Thats not correct

http://drummajorinstitute.org/board.php

[Zueda]

30. hmmm

From Wikipedia:

"Young also is a director of the Drum Major Institute, and also is the chairman of the board for the *"

[Progress And Change]

31. to be generous it was not correct...

[jefferson_dem]

32. I stand corrected, if the information on their site is correct.

Damn wikipedia. Serves me right. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_Major_Institute

[Zueda]

28. Ouch! nt

[Progress And Change]

29. andrew young III is on the board, along with right-wingers like RFK Jr. and MLK III

http://www.drummajorinstitute.org/board.php

Nice sleight of hand, though, to make it seem the other Andrew Young is the chair of the New York-based institute. ;)

[Zueda]

35. You mean this Andrew Young?

In February, 2006 Young accepted a position as chairman of Working Families for Wal-Mart, a grass-roots organization sponsored by the corporate giant as a public response to widespread criticism that many of the company's American employees and their children are on public assistance, that the company uses child labor, that the company discriminates against female and African-American employees, and that workers manufacturing Wal-Mart products are subjected to abusive conditions and sub-poverty wages.

[mtnsnake]

33. Hillary ranks higher than the rest of the candidates on the Progressive Punch rating site, too

She's right up there with Ted Kennedy on Progressive Punch, just one spot below him at 29th out of 100 Senators. Obama is only ranked at 43rd, one of the lowest Democrats and only one spot above Lieberman, lol. Below that there are only a handful of Democrats and the rest are Republicans.

Hillary has always been very progressive, despite the innuendo and misinformation posted about her here on DU by all her jealous naysayers.

[Progress And Change]

41. no way! say it aint so, joe!

[BootinUp]

44. thanks. nt

[antiimperialist]

38. I've never heard of this obscure Drum Major institute

Other liberal think thanks regularly give Obama a 90-100% rating.

[Progress And Change]

42. DMI focuses exclusively on middle-class issues

Obama's ratings may be higher elsewhere because of non-economic issues, i.e. foreign policy. You are right about his usual ratings but look at where Mrs. Clinton is in those ratings as well. Perception is not always reality. ;)

[Zueda]

43. And Free-trade Policies evidently...

[mtnsnake]

46. You've got 213 posts and 205 of them are whiners. Here, maybe this will help:

[Zueda]

47. Hah!

Is that your typical canned response for when your stumped?

[mtnsnake]

51. Make that 206!

:evilgrin:

[Zueda]

54. Oh...I see...

So that's how it goes <----Heres 207 for ya!

[mtnsnake]

56. lol

:)

[antiimperialist]

57. Then your title should have said, "how economically progressive is Obama"?

It would create less confusion. Progressive is a broad term.

[Progress And Change]

49. "How progressive is Obama?" does anyone know? oprah?

[mtnsnake]

53. Progressive Punch ranks him 1 notch above Joe Lieberman. lol

and they're one of the bibles of progressive ratings sites. Hillary is by far the most Progressive of all the current candidates who are Senators when it comes to all the issues.

[rjones2818]

60. Dennis scored 100%

Which was the best score of anyone running!

Hah!

:evilgrin:

Go Dennis! :woohoo:
http://dennis4president.com
Choose Peace!

[Tejanocrat]

61. Thanks to those who made an effort to answer my request for information. Here are links to threads

started in the last couple of hours which offer different viewpoints:

Thread to compare the head-to-head voting records of Clinton and Obama from 2005-present

Group against corporations and the wealthy gives H. Clinton 80% rating. Obama gets 100% for 2005-06

National Journal ranked 99 Senators based on 82 key 2006 votes & rated Obama most liberal of all...

A comparision of the voting records of Clinton, Obama, Edwards, and Dodd

[Czolgosz]

67. Useful links. Thanks.

[sjdnb]

62. Contradicts what I've been researching/not an Obama supporter

I'm still holding out for Gore to jump in - yeah, I know it's not likely. I was hoping Feingold would run, but early on he made it clear he wasn't getting in. So, until there is absolutely no hope of a Gore candidacy, I'm spending my time researching the others. Overall, I am disappointed with the 2008 Dem slate of candidates - I thought Gore sans Lieberman and Kerry/Edwards were much better tickets.

Anyway, I started with Obama because of the whole Oprahpalooza hype thing. The fact that Obama would buy into this type of campaigning had really made me queasy and, that unease was only magnified when I saw a clip on CNN of Oprah saying how she had voted for as many Republicans as Democrats! Now, I'm almost the same age as Oprah, and in my 31 years of voting I have not found even ONE Republican I would be able to vote for - and, for me, living in a RED county for the last 13 years, it would have been an easy out. That made me begin to question who Obama could be to buy into the whole 'rock star/celebrity' thing - especially with a headliner who was either very confused or very willing to compromise her principles over the last 35 years (the years she has been old enough to vote). But, I thought I'd check out Obama's voting record in the IL Senate and the US Senate as well as some interest group ratings, etc. to see if there was any connection (i.e., did Obama ever lean right).

What I found was an extremely progressive/liberal record in the IL Senate and almost equally progressive/liberal record in the US Senate. Now, there have been some statement missteps (7/2004: "There's not much of a difference between my position on Iraq and George Bush's position at this stage.") but all in all I can't find any reason there has been any speculation that Obama could bring Republican crossover votes to the 2008 general election (cites: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/24/obama_gop/ and http://www.newsweek.com/id/73369/output/print)

The ACU (American Conservative Union) gave Obama and Clinton ratings of 8 in 2006 (the last year available) and I have not found any conservative sites with such rating scales that have any of the 2008 Dem candidates rated much higher.

From Conservapedia:
"His voting record places him as the tenth-most Liberal member of the U. S. Senate. His composite liberal rating was 86 percent, just seven points behind Ted Kennedy. Among fellow Senate Democrats, he was further left than liberals like John Kerry, Dianne Feinstein, Charles Schumer, Russ Feingold, Carl Levin, Joseph Biden and Harry Reid.<1> Senator Obama is a Democratic front-runner for the 2008 United States presidential election."

So, while I may not support Obama, I think it is misleading to infer that he is not a progressive/liberal.

Also see: Project Vote Smart Presidential Election 2008 Political Courage Test
OBAMA – Did not take the 2008 test, but Illinois State Legislative Election 1998 National Political Awareness Test responses are available on the site
http://votesmart.org/npat.php?can_id=9490

US Senate Voting Record
http://votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=9490

IL Senate Voting Record Synopsis
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/07/29/us/politics/20070730_OBAMA_GRAPHIC.html

[Perry Logan]

63. Hillary's 100% score puts the lie to the "corporate shill" bullshit so popular at DU.

[Cameron27]

66. If only that were so,,

sorry Perry, no one's going to abandon their BS, just because facts and logic proved them wrong.

[maximusveritas]

68. This is based on 8 votes from half of 2005

To try and pretend this is something new or a rating of them in their lifetime is just misleading.

[Stop Cornyn]

69. How many "how progressive is Obama" threads are there?