Collins, Snowe deemed most liberal delegation

WASHINGTON – No members of the Senate are as much out of sync with their own party as the two women from Maine. That could be a good thing in a world now dominated by the watchword “bipartisan.”

Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan M. Collins are the most liberal-leaning GOP delegation in the Senate. Only Ohio’s pair – Sens. Mike DeWine and George Voinovich – rank close.

Snowe and Collins have virtually identical voting records, each posting 50.2 percent “liberal” ratings on the annual report card published by National Journal, a Washington magazine focusing on public policy issues. They ranked third among liberal Republicans, trailing Sens. James M. Jeffords, R-Vt., and Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., both of whom posted a 66.5 percent “liberal” voting mark.

Both Maine senators are members of a centrist coalition of senators who are aiming to help craft a bipartisan agenda for the new 107th Congress.

Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, ranked 14th in the House among the liberals in the study, which examined only fringe members of both chambers of Congress. While considered moderates, Snowe and Collins were listed as fringe members within the context of their own party. Rep. John Baldacci did not make the list.

Sen. Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark., was rated the most conservative member of the Senate by National Journal, while Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., took honors as the most liberal. Boxer and Hutchinson are rated among the 20 “fringe” members of the Senate.

Boxer voted “liberal” 93.5 percent of the time, edging out Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., for high liberal honors. Wellstone had a 93.2 percent liberal record. Hutchinson scored a 95.2 percent conservative mark, edging former major league all-star pitcher, Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., who posted a 92.8 percent mark.

“The two senators whose scores placed them at the precise center of the Senate” were Snowe and Collins, National Journal said. “Their scores in the three issue areas [economic, social and foreign policy] were identical.”