TIME: The ten best Senators, and the five worst

[DeepModem Mom]

America's 10 Best Senators
Those who make a difference in the U.S. Senate — and five Senators who are falling short
By MASSIMO CALABRESI AND PERRY BACON JR.

By law, just about anyone can be a U.S. Senator. The Constitution requires only that you have reached your 30th birthday, reside in the state you represent and have held American citizenship for nine years. But if the framers made qualifying for the job easy, they made excelling at it difficult. James Madison called the Senate a "fence" against the "fickleness and passion" of public opinion, and the rules of the place ensure that it is as cumbersome and restrictive as that sounds. Any of the 100 members can try to change, or completely hijack, another member's bill as it comes up for a vote. And any one of them can bring the place to a halt with a filibuster. Mastering a powerful institution that relies on comity but requires confrontation takes a special kind of talent.

Or talents. There is no fixed journey to greatness in the Senate. Instead there is a whole variety of skills that America's Senators have developed over 218 years to help them raise and spend tax dollars, oversee the operation of government and, in the case of the best among them, pass laws that benefit their constituents, their country and the world. Time spoke to dozens of academics, political scientists and current and former Senators to pick the 10 best of the 109th Congress. One made it because he puts unsexy but important issues on the national agenda, another because his backroom negotiating turns conflict into consensus. A third got on the list for his diligent bird-dogging of Enron, Homeland Security and the Pentagon. Then there's the prodigious across-the-aisle dealer, the fierce defender of her constituents and the expert who sees around corners. As with any all-star team, we sought a broad range of gifts rather than settling on 10 great pitchers or middle linebackers.

They say the Senate is the world's most exclusive club. But the real elite is made up not of those who break in but of those who make a difference once they get there. Here are 10 who do....

The Best Senators

Thad Cochran
Kent Conrad
Dick Durbin
Ted Kennedy
Jon Kyl
Carl Levin
Richard Lugar
John McCain
Olympia J. Snowe
Arlen Specter

The Worst Senators

Daniel Akaka
Wayne Allard
Jim Bunning
Conrad Burns
Mark Dayton

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1184028,00.html?cnn=yes

(NOTE: At the link, you can click on each Senator's name for the reasons TIME gives for the Senator's selection.)

[Rude Horner]

1. No Russ Feingold????

Talk about a GLARING ommission! And John McCain is among the best?! PUH-LEEEZE. Arlen Spector is a complete dickhead. Sheeesh, who wrote this list?!

[UrbScotty]

29. I thought the same of Feingold (nt)

[babylonsister]

2. Time's bias is hanging out visibly. No Kerry either? Gimmeabreak! nt

[spanone]

3. Frist is definitely among the worse.

[DELUSIONAL]

6. I agree with that assessment

[peekaloo]

7. as is Martinez (Fl.) and Cornyn (Tx).

:puke:

[Paladin]

9. I'm Not Believing They Left That Dumbass Cornyn Off The Worst List

Even by the low standards of my beloved state, Cornyn sinks to the bottom as a moral and intellectual cyst. He's so bad, he (almost) makes Kay Bailey Hutchison look good by comparison, and that's saying something.

And why the hell is Chuck Schumer left off best list? Through his masterful leadership of the DSCC, he's setting up a Democratic takeover of the Senate---not so much by waging election battles, but by taking steps to eliminate such battles before they happen. Brilliant, hard-edged political action that ought to be recognized by more of the public....

[NoPasaran]

15. Yeah! No "Boxturtle" Cornyn?!?

:wtf:
I demand a recount!

[Paladin]

25. Could You Explain The "Boxturtle" Thing To Me?

I've seen it a couple of times, but I missed its origin.

Many thanks....

[NoPasaran]

27. It comes from an idiotic remark he made

in a speech to the Heritage Foundation about gay marriage:

"It does not affect your daily life very much if your neighbor marries a box turtle. But that does not mean it is right. . . . Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife."

[acmejack]

4. Oh Please!

Thad Cochran, Jon Kyl, Richard Lugar, John McCain, Olympia J. Snowe, Arlen Specter I will say if these six are among these ten best we have it is small wonder we find our Nation in the state it is today!

[peekaloo]

5. Small wonder we're fucked.

Gee maybe add some Repukes to the list. :sarcasm:

[OzarkDem]

8. Pimping for media conglomeration

Time, et al are only interested in keeping the GOP in control so they can buy up even more media outlets. :eyes:

They have no credibility.

[NV Whino]

10. Hmmmm....

I don't see Boxer's name under 10 best. How about replacing McCain?

[LibDemAlways]

11. What were the criteria for

making these determinations? Why stop at five worst? Any list that doesn't put George Allen in the 5 worst has no credibility whatsoever.

[madaboutharry]

12. Jon Kyl - What a laugh!

Jon Kyl is a moron. An empty suit in the shadow of "Mr. Bullshit Express McCain." All Jon Kyl is capable of doing is memorizing the blast fax from Karl Rove.

[Catshrink]

17. Vile Kyle

both of my esteemed senators -- Kyl and McCain -- are on the list. Esteemed like the steaming piles o'crap they are. I hope we can send Kyl packing in November.

[Cocoa]

26. read their "reasoning" behind nominating Kyl

it's even a bigger laugh. This is what time considers "good?" :wtf:

When urgent legislation to respond to Hurricane Katrina bumped Kyl's long-sought goal of a vote on abolishing the estate tax last fall, Kyl quietly worked to get it back on the Senate agenda by recruiting Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions in an unsuccessful attempt to find victims of the disaster who would be paying the tax.

[jwirr]

13. As a Minnesota Dem. I am glad I do not subscribe to Time.

There are a lot worse Sen. than Mark Dayton. For one thing the shut down of his office was symbolic of the lack of protection offered by the *ss's administration. And for anyone needing excellent care from the Mayo they know what he was talking about. As far as I can tell SD does not have the power to heal illnesses. Their specialty is harassing Native Americans and desperate women. As to passing bill and lack of power: I also feel stifled - but that will change.

[hlthe2b]

14. Wayne Allard......

snarf :rofl:

[neebob]

20. Add my snicker to your snarf

One could argue it's really Conrad Burns who's the Invisible Man, because his link points to the Allard article.

[immoderate]

16. Well if bullshit is a talent, it makes sense.

--IMM

[chicofaraby]

18. It's good to know I made a sound decision.

When I stopped reading Time ten years ago.

[Nomen Tuum]

19. Arlen Specter?

:puke:

[ladjf]

21. Is this some kind of random listing of Senators?

[NJ Democrats]

22. Wow

I agree with a few of their selections, bu others are just bad. Thad Cochran? A doubt that their are many who know who he is (R-Mississippi, in case you need to know). And where is Russ on the best list. God this list is pretty bad.

[Imagevision]

23. Really!! why isn't Feingold's name at the TOP of the Best List??

[globalvillage]

24. I agree with Durbin and Kennedy.

And Allard on the worst. That's about it.
Maybe Levin.

[jburton]

28. Jon Kyl?

What a joke.