National Journal: Foul Play in the "Most Liberal" Ratings Game
National Journal Email Compares Obama to Kerry, Ignores Flawed Methodology & McCain's Lack of Rating
Washington, D.C. -- Conservative pundits have a new talking point courtesy of the National Journal's new claim that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is the Senate's "most liberal" member. But there's more to the story than the talking heads would have the American people think.
In an email, the National Journal Group encouraged subscribers to read the magazine's Senate ratings, stating: "We expect this story will have immediate traction in the media and blogosphere and at watercoolers around the country. In 2004, President Bush invoked Senator John Kerry's [D-MA] liberal Vote Ratings score repeatedly on the campaign trail and at their head-to-head debates."
The email did not mention that the National Journal has acknowledged the methodology it used to produce its "most liberal" rating for Kerry was flawed.
"It seems the National Journal is more interested in becoming part of a campaign's talking points than honestly and accurately assessing the votes of United States senators," said Karl Frisch, a Media Matters for America spokesman. "Failing to disclose previous flaws in its rating system is irresponsible. The National Journal should focus on reporting the facts, instead of spinning for attention."
Numerous outlets and conservative media figures have reported on the National Journal's rating of Obama as "the most liberal senator in 2007," but have ignored issues raised about the 2003 study and the fact that the same National Journal feature could not rate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) because he "missed more than half of the votes in both the economic and foreign-policy categories."
The National Journal has yet to reveal how most other senators compared to Sens. Obama, McCain, and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) in their 2007 ratings -- a problem for those looking to dig deeper into the report's findings.
Detailed research items on this issue from Media Matters ...
In an email to readers encouraging recipients to read the National Journal article on the magazine's Senate ratings, the National Journal Group wrote: "We expect this story will have immediate traction in the media and blogosphere and at watercoolers around the country. In 2004, President Bush invoked Senator John Kerry's liberal Vote Ratings score repeatedly on the campaign trail and at their head-to-head debates." However, the email did not note that the National Journal has acknowledged the methodology it used to produce its Kerry "most liberal" rating was flawed.
Media Matters has identified numerous media outlets or figures who reported that the National Journal has rated Sen. Barack Obama "the most liberal senator in 2007," but did not report that the same National Journal feature stated that Sen. John McCain "did not vote frequently enough in 2007 to draw a composite score. He missed more than half of the votes in both the economic and foreign-policy categories."
