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Bucky

(54,087 posts)
Mon Apr 13, 2015, 02:04 PM Apr 2015

interesting chart on 538.com

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/marco-rubio-announcement-2016/

What's interesting to look at is the disparity between the red and blue dots. The [font color="#900000"]red dot[/font] is the politician's voting record, the [font color="#00a000"]blue dot[/font] is his/her public statements.

Thus, if the red is to left of the right, this politician votes closer to moderate than his rhetoric would suggest. If the blue dot is to the left, then this is a politician who talks a moderate game, but then does the bidding of rightwing interests. The wider the gap, the bigger the hypocricy.

Note the big gap in McCain's verbal "maverickism" compared to his actual performance in office. Compare to how relatively more moderate Kasich was in Congress in comparison to his more incendiary talking points. But down on the bottom, note the HUGE gap between sane talk and extremist voting by the Paul dynasty.

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FBaggins

(26,775 posts)
1. Very interesting
Mon Apr 13, 2015, 02:25 PM
Apr 2015

I certainly didn't expect Newt and Reagan to show up as less conservative than the current congressional average.

Turbineguy

(37,375 posts)
4. Comparatively speaking,
Mon Apr 13, 2015, 03:02 PM
Apr 2015

Barry Goldwater would make an attractive alternative. He was intelligent and in favor of the separation of church and state.

And Nixon was an out and out leftie.

HereSince1628

(36,063 posts)
6. It'd be interesting to see something similar for democrats
Mon Apr 13, 2015, 03:22 PM
Apr 2015

or an across the board comparison between dems and republicans and their liberalness vs conservativeness

Bucky

(54,087 posts)
8. Possibly, but of course what is more or less right wing lends itself to linear equations
Mon Apr 13, 2015, 03:28 PM
Apr 2015

the more nuanced liberal approach to what works best in government sometimes defies the simplistic left-right construction of pet conservative issues

Response to Bucky (Original post)

 

DefenseLawyer

(11,101 posts)
10. Im not sure how anyone could have a voting record to the right of Mike Pence
Mon Apr 13, 2015, 03:34 PM
Apr 2015

He was a total wing nut while in Congress. I guess the things they are voting on have just gotten crazier.

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