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"U.S. Senate Just Got a Lot More Progressive." Not just 2
Posted: Nov 7, 2012
Four of the five most most liberal candidates in contested Senate races won on Tuesday (only Arizona Democrat Richard Carmona fell short), according to ideological ratings compiled by University of Chicago political scientist Boris Shor. Per Shor's rankings,
Connecticut Rep. Chris Murphy was the most liberal candidate in any contested race to win a Senate seat—more liberal than the progressive icon Elizabeth Warren, even. And Murphy replaced a centrist Independent Joe Lieberman. That's a big boost.
Right behind Murphy is Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin, a member of the House Progressive Caucus who seems a sure bet to become something the retiring Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl never was—a loud voice for progressive causes.
Warren, the fourth-most liberal Democratic challenger (behind Hawaii's Mazie Hirono, who won easily) replaced Sen. Scott Brown, a moderate Republican. A political celebrity even before she entered the race on account of her work monitoring TARP, Warren will likely be handed an oversized role for an incoming lawmaker on issues like housing and banking.
Here's a chart, by way of the Washington Post's Ezra Klein:
Ezra Klein/Washington Post
The biggest win for liberals came in Missouri, where Sen. Claire McCaskill, never a liberal favorite, managed to take down Rep. Todd Akin, the second-most conservative candidate on the ballot (only Wyoming's John Barrasso outdid him).
Elsewhere, Democrats replaced a moderate Republican Sen. Richard Lugar with Rep. Joe Donnelly, whom Shor gives an ideological score of .03—just about dead-center. That's a slight shift, but it's something. The only real reversal of the trend came in Nebraska, where centrist Dem Ben Nelson was replaced by Deb Fischer, the most conservative challenger to win on Tuesday.
The Senate's shift to the left is consistent with two other notable developments on Tuesday night. As my colleague Adam Serwer noted, liberals scored big wins at the state level, going 4-for-4 in gay marriage initiatives (legalizing it in Washington state, Maryland, and Maine), decriminalizing marijuana in Colorado, and giving undocumented kids in Maryland in-state college tuition.
And as a whole, Congress took a few steps closer to resembling the nation it serves—Hawaii Democrat Tulsi Gabbard will be the first practicing Hindu to serve in the House; Baldwin the first openly-gay Senator; Hirono the first Asian woman.
For the first time, women comprise an entire state delegation (New Hampshire's), and a record number of women will join the 112th Congress.
That's pretty much it, but here's the link: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/11/us-senate-just-got-lot-more-progressive
;
Intrigued by former ME Governor Angus King, self-appointed - independent FilibusterBuster.
[ In Reply To ..]That just about all he ran on during his campaign to replace Olympia Snowe when she retired. He's already done the unthinkable by prevailing over both mainstream parties, twice at state level and now national. I think he intends to skip the "junior senator" phase and has no intention of serving coffee to his mentor or quietly sitting still for 6 years. At the moment, he's not saying who he will caucus with, opting to actually talk to both sides before making that decision. Sounds like a mighty sensible fellow to me.
My favorite King quote is relative to Congress:
"Ya know what Congress approval rating is? 9-percent. Only serial killers have a lower approval rating than 9-percent."
Yesiree. His Senate tenure should prove to be mighty, mighty interesting.
I think he will be a true centrist...sm - JTBB
[ In Reply To ..]we could probably use more like him.
Not so great - bt
[ In Reply To ..]As a governor in Maine he was not so great. Just FYI.
Why is that? Because he didn't serve your - partisan interests?
[ In Reply To ..]Care to elaborate?
What does "not so great" mean, BT? Are you - from Maine? nm
[ In Reply To ..]x
Baldwin is not the first openly gay Senator. Barney Frank takes that trophy - backwards typist
[ In Reply To ..]I'm a little sad about Warren. I can't believe she's in with all the lies she told during the campaign.
I'll have to really look up the others. Some I never heard anything about and I certainly won't go to Mother Jones to find out about them.
Ummm, Barney Frank never served a single day - in the senate, BT. nm
[ In Reply To ..]nm
Who cares whether it was the senate or house - BS
[ In Reply To ..]It was still a federal level position.
maybe someone who cares about facts? - nm - YD
[ In Reply To ..]nm
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