Best and Worst

by Cliopatria

Time has just named its 10 best and 5 worst members of the US Senate. The top 10: Cochran; Conrad; Durbin; Kennedy; Kyl; Levin; Lugar; McCain; Snowe; Specter. The bottom 5: Akaka; Allard; Bunning; Burns; Dayton. Newly elected members weren't ranked. Of the top 10, my only quibble woud be with Kyl, who strikes me as mediocre; Orrin Hatch or Chuck Hagel would be better Republicans.

No objections to the bottom five, three of whom (Akaka, Burns, and Dayton) might very well not return to the next Senate, although I would have found a way to include Jim Inhofe in the bottom rung as well. (Maybe do a bottom 6.) The writeup on Bunning is particularly cutting.

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Jason Kuznicki - 4/19/2006

I am amazed that Alaska Senator Ted Stevens didn't make the worst list. He's been little more than a one-man graft industry, funneling hundreds of millions toward construction that benefits not just his state (which might be defensible) but also construction firms with which he is closely associated.

Ed Schmitt - 4/18/2006

Prof. Johnson, as a primarily political historian myself, I enjoy many of your posts on those topics. I don't always agree with your positions on issues raised here, but I do appreciate your attention, both historical and contemporary, to Congress and to local races. I found your comparison of McCain with Scheweiker fascinating.