Evan Bayh Is Most Conservative Senate Democrat, Ratings Say

The most conservative Senate Democrat? The most liberal Republican? Read all about it in National Journal's vote ratings, drawn up to measure the ideological range of this fightin' and feudin' 111th Congress.

National Journal, an influential and deeply reported magazine and Web site, used its own editors and reporters to compile more than 90 roll-call votes on economic, social and foreign policy legislation in the Senate and the House of Representatives. They then graded lawmakers as liberal or conservative based on those votes.

They've been doing it since 1981 and, as always, there were some surprises and some "duhs." Finding Evan Bayh of Indiana to be the most conservative Senate Democrat -- he leaned conservative on nearly 6 of every 10 votes, the magazine said -- doesn't raise eyebrows considering his center-right Midwestern constituency. Bayh, something of an endangered species, has announced he won't run again. And Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), once thought to be the Democrats' best bet for a GOP pick-up on health care reform, was no surprise as the most liberal Republican senator -- even though she voted the liberal way only 41 percent of the time.

The most conservative senator was James Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma, who has denounced global warming as a hoax. But five Democratic senators took home the gold for most liberal: Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Roland Burris of Illinois, Ben Cardin of Maryland, and Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, both of Rhode Island. Burris, an appointee, is out after this Congress. Whitehouse, Cardin and Brown face re-election in 2012 -- Brown in a swing state.

Two nominal Senate independents, Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, finished 52nd and 38th, respectively, on the liberal meter in the 100-member Senate.

In the House, eight Democrats tied as most liberal -- the most notable being Rep. Henry Waxman, the inquisitive and aggressive chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Six Republicans deadlocked as most conservative; all but Rep. Doug Lamborn (Colo.) hail from Texas or Arizona.

But the most conservative House delegation, according to National Journal, was the group from Idaho. And the most liberal (notwithstanding Scott Brown in the Senate) was Massachusetts.