Of Course It's True. I Said It, Didn't I?

Jon Stewart last night on The Daily Show had as a guest a Republican Congressman who kept referring to John Kerry as the most liberal Senator and John Edwards as the fourth most liberal Senator. Stewart kept asking the Congressman, "According to who?" The Congressman couldn't answer because he clearly didn't know who had said what he was so gleefully repeating.

The most liberal/4th most liberal characterization has become Republican orthodoxy, repeated by people who have no idea what the source is or how valid the analysis might be. What matters is that it scores political points.

Yeah, well, Spinsanity has the poop on the statistic:

In fact, as scholars at the center-left Brookings Institute pointed out in a New York Times op-ed Monday, when considering all the votes they have cast over the course of their careers, Kerry and Edwards have been considerably less liberal than the National Journal rankings imply, The Brookings Institution scholars found that Kerry, while more liberal than the average Democrat, is "closer to the center of the Democratic Party than he is to the most liberal senators, including Mr. Kennedy." Edwards, by contrast, has cast votes that make his record slightly more conservative than the average Senate Democrat.

Here's a link to the NYT op-ed.

Here's a serious statistical analysis that I'm trying really hard to understand, by University of Houston political scientist Keith Poole.

UPDATE: It was Henry Bonilla of Texas who was on The Daily Show. Rick Klau's blog has a blow-by-blow, which is impressive considering he didn't see the show, and Angry Bear has a partial transcript and asks this magical question:

Is there some way to fire Judy Woodruff and give her job to Jon Stewart?

UPDATE UPDATE: Paperweight discusses Jon Stewart and Ted Koppel, dukin' it out over just what a big big fussypants Koppel is about news.

Comments

[Rick Klau]

Actually, I did see it. But I'm sure you find my comments impressive regardless, yes? :)