Mr. Chapin,
A few points for you:
1. You said, “Barack Obama, the most far-left major party candidate to ever run for the presidency” and used the national journal ranking as your evidence. At absolute best (if the methodology of NJ exercise is appropriate) it would be evidence that Obama was among the most liberal current senators, not the most liberal person to run for the presidency. The link did not provide proof of your assertion.
2. Every four years the votes carefully selected by this partisan organization seem to point to whichever democrat is running being the most liberal. Is Obama really more liberal than Kennedy? or the self described socialist Sanders? If you really think so you must be living in a different world than most.
3. Many of the votes NJ chose were repeat votes on the same issue (several minimum wage votes, several SCHIP votes, over a dozen votes on Iraq and immigration reform, etc) artificially inflating select issues.
4. Let’s look at some of the votes that are defined as liberal.
Requiring more thorough screening of cargo = liberal.
Not means testing Medicare recipients = liberal.
Allowing importation of cheaper prescription drugs = liberal.
Blocking individuals with conflicts of interest from serving on FDA drug advisory panels = liberal.
Allowing DC residents to vote for president = liberal.
Preventing trucks not meeting US safety standards from operating on US roads = liberal.
Barring transportation security cards for certain convicted felons = liberal.
5. Positions with greater than 60% popular support are categorized as liberal. In this context, what does liberal mean other than associated with democratic support regardless of where the public stands?
The labels liberal and conservative are contextually based as they relate to distance from the political center. Most Americans would be considered quite conservative in the Netherlands (or the world at large) and quite liberal in Iran or Saudi Arabia.
