CQ has long tracked how often members of Congress vote with their parties (aka “party unity“), how often they vote with the president (“presidential support“), and how often they simply show up to vote (“voting participation“). These numbers shed a lot of light both on Congress as a whole and on individual members.
CQ has also launched a new flash-based tool which lets you view all this data interactively. Be sure to scroll all the way down for the chart which plots presidential supports vs. party unity – very cool. Hopefully CQ will go back and add historical data (they’ve been compiling these numbers since 1953). For now, you can find 2006 & 2007 party unity numbers here, and combined 2005-06 numbers here.
A few highlights:
Nick Lampson had the lowest party unity score (57%) and the highest presidential support score (39%), but it still didn’t keep him from getting turfed in his extremely red Texas district
Meanwhile, Nancy Boyda voted with the Dems 92% of the time – exactly average. That probably didn’t help her cause.
Good news on the filibuster front: Olympia Snowe voted with the Democrats 61% of the time and Susan Collins did so 54% of the time. Yes, they both voted Dem more often than they went Repub (though Collins’s score might have been inflated by the fact that she sought re-election this year).
Check out this chart (PDF), in particular the opposition column for the Senate. Most of the names on that list make sense, but one stands out: DE Sen. Tom Carper, who frequently has a poor party unity record. I’m sure I’m not the only person who expects more from a guy who represents a state which voted 62-37 for Obama.
Tops on the dis-unity list: Evan Bayh, considerably worse than even Ben Nelson. Sheesh. What a phony. After racking up unity scores of 90% in 2005 and 89% in 2006 when he was flirting with a presidential run, he’s since cratered to 65%. Seems to me like he’s the epitome of a “stands for anything, stands for nothing” politician.
Back on the House side of things, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was second only to the primaried-out Wayne Gilchrest among Republicans voting with Dems, which shows you that a credible challenge at the polls can also do good things on the Hill.
And not that anyone needed reminding, but David Broder and his fellow cult members are still living in fantasy land:
The extent of the shift [toward greater partisanship] may be amplified by tighter floor control exercised by leaders of the majority party, said Jon R. Bond, a political scientist at Texas A&M University. “The majority party just won’t bring a vote up unless they know they are going to win,” he said. More telling, Bond said, the partisanship of today is a return to traditional American party politics, while the relative comity that existed from the 1950s to the 1980s was the exception.
“Even after all these years of increases in party voting, it’s still not nearly as high as it was in the 19th century,” he said.
I’ll say it up front, I’ve always been bullish on Al Franken, even when others here were ripping on him, and already giving up on the race, and lamenting how the race would’ve been better with Ciresi or Nelson-Pallmeyer. And one of the arguments used against Franken was that he had pissed off some other prominent Minnesota Democrats like Congresspeople Betty McCollum and Keith Ellison and Amy Klobuchar. There was quite a bit of hand-wringing going on.
Well, take a look below the fold to see what’s happened in the last couple days. (And from the links, yes, I got this stuff from MN Publius.
To start off, last week Al Franken visited homeowners facing foreclosure with Keith Ellison. And unlike previous statements, Ellison offered praise for Franken.
Franken and Ellison also took part in last Saturday’s Minneapolis Urban League’s annual Family Day Celebration at North Commons Park and made stops at two small shopping malls in South Minneapolis. Franken said he’s proud to be on the Democratic ticket headed by U.S. Senator Barack Obama and including Ellison, who is seeking his second congressional term.
“He [Obama] is going to need as many Democratic U.S. senators as possible to make sure that his agenda gets through,” candidate Franken said of Obama’s potential presidency. “I know that Keith has worked hard to get bills passed for addressing and alleviating the housing crisis. When I get to Washington, I look forward to standing beside Keith as we take the next step.”
Having two Senate Democrats in Congress will be helpful to push forward needed housing and anti-predatory mortgage lending legislation, said Ellison. “We need both houses [of Congress] working together and an administration working for us. Al isn’t just another Democrat, but a dynamic, energetic, charismatic voice that can help rally the public will to real solutions.“
I’ve gotten to know Al well as he’s traveled the state building a grassroots movement for change, and I know he’ll be a champion for Minnesota families in Washington.
On issues like health care, energy, the war in Iraq, and our economy here at home, Al will reject the failed policies of the Bush administration and fight for change. In fact, just today Al offered some bold, common-sense solutions to strengthen Minnesota’s schools. Al will never sell out to the special interests – he’ll stay loyal to Minnesotans and advocate everyday to help the middle class.
And last but not least, Betty McCollum, who acknowledges her earlier reservations about Franken.
“Crisis” now describes a long list of issues facing Minnesota families and our country. From healthcare to energy prices, the economy to ending the Iraq war – America faces serious challenges that require urgent action. In Washington, we need leaders who are willing to take America in a new direction. I am proud of the work Democrats in the U.S. House have accomplished to pass important legislation. Unfortunately, much of our work has been stalled in the U.S. Senate by an obstructionist Republican minority. That needs to change.
As I look forward to 2009, I want to be represented in the U.S. Senate by two Minnesota senators who will support and vote to advance our positive, action oriented Democratic agenda to strengthen our economy, keep our nation secure, and invest in our country’s future. That means in this year’s race for the U.S. Senate I will be voting for Al Franken.
This spring I voiced concerns about material from Al’s past career. To have remained silent when asked would have been hypocritical and dishonest. I am confident my concerns have been heard and since then I have watched Al’s campaign take steps to address these matters. Now, I believe Al and his campaign are appropriately focused on building a solid relationship with voters based on our shared Minnesota values, ideals, and hopes for the future. Like all candidates, Al understands that he is not only asking Minnesotans for their vote, but for their trust. As November 4th approaches, Al Franken will earn the trust of Minnesotans and I intend to work with him to win this election.
Fourth District DFLers, thank you for your on-going support. This year I will continue to campaign hard to turn out the vote to elect Barack Obama to the White House, Al Franken to the U.S. Senate, and win my own re-election to Congress. I know we will all work together in the 4th District to win in November and together take Minnesota and America in a new direction.
Franken has also just released this powerful ad called “Dr. Bob”, of a conservative Republican who praises Al for his patriotism and his commitment to our troops.
And please, don’t cite the SurveyUSA poll as evidence of how flawed Franken is. The poll’s crosstabs are bonkers.
Lurking just beneath the surface was a raw reality for the Coleman campaign: the poll’s partisan splits were completely bonkers.
The poll showed a sample of 33% self-identified DFLers and 32% self-identified Republicans. I wasn’t the only one to notice how insane that split is — my former colleague Eric Black also noticed:
But Rasmussen, which doesn’t release full cross-tabs to non-members like me, suggests that Coleman’s share of Democrats has declined from 20 to 10 percent and that this may be the factor that cost him the lead he held a month ago.
Little change
SUSA has shown little change since its previous poll on the race a month earlier. The most suspicious thing to me about SUSA’s current poll is that the Minnesota sample consisted of 33 percent Democrats and 32 percent Republicans. Most polls (including the previous SUSA poll in Minnesota) find that Democrats outnumber Republicans by 10-plus percentage points. The poll scholars on whom I rely for guidance tend to have a higher general opinion of SUSA than Rasmussen (and not too high an opinion of any robo-dialers). But if you’re looking for a reason to disbelieve this one, with its large and sturdy Coleman lead, the partisan makeup of the sample is suspicious.
Eric is in the right neighborhood here. Most polls shoot for about a 36-28 DFL advantage in party self-identification, perhaps a couple of points more due to Barack Obama’s crushing victory in the Super-Duper Tuesday precinct caucuses. SurveyUSA is simply way out in left field with this poll.
According to one reader who apparently has a PhD in such things, if you multiply out the difference in partisan split between the last SurveyUSA poll and this one, Franken is actually doing about four points better than the previous S-USA poll — but I haven’t confirmed that yet…largely because I would need a PhD to understand what the heck I was doing.
I’ll add to that. From looking at the crosstabs a bit closer, another thing doesn’t make sense. Coleman’s best age group is young people. Does that make ANY sense to anybody out there?? Like I’ve said in the past, to take this poll at face value, even forgetting the bizarre partisan split, would be to say that come November, there’s going to be a shitload (a statistical term) of young people that vote for Barack Obama for President, and then pull the lever for Norm Coleman. Let that sink in. It makes about as much sense as “Vegetarians for Bush”.
And all this is before the GOP convention heads to St. Paul, and Coleman is forced to be tied to the hip to the national party, which he’s trying to distance himself from. Senators from other states who are up for re-election are skipping out, but Coleman can’t. And keep in mind Al’s torrid fundraising pace, which will allow him to be financially competitive with Coleman.
So please, people, stop writing Franken off. It doesn’t do us any good.