During the February 14 edition of CNN's American Morning, anchor Kiran Chetry aired a video clip of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (AZ) saying of Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama (IL): “It's not an accident he has, I think, according to the National Journal, the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate. I have one of the most conservative.” But after airing McCain's assertion that he has “one of the most conservative” voting records in the Senate, Chetry did not mention that the Journal's 2007 vote ratings, which ranked Obama “the most liberal senator in 2007,” did not include McCain, because, the Journal said, "[McCain] did not vote frequently enough in 2007 to draw a composite score." Similarly, a February 13 New York Times article repeated McCain's assertion without noting that he missed too many Senate votes to garner a score. As Media Matters for America previously documented, numerous media outlets have reported Obama's Journal's ranking without noting that McCain missed too many votes to be rated, or that the Journal admitted a flaw in the publication's previous rating of then-Democratic presidential front-runner Sen. John Kerry (MA) as the “most liberal senator” in 2003.

McCain made his statement regarding the Journal's vote ratings during a February 13 press conference:

McCAIN: There's going to come a time where we have to get into specifics, and I've not observed every speech that he's given, obviously, but they are singularly lacking in specifics. And that's when, as the campaign moves forward, we will be portraying very stark differences. It's not an accident that he has, I think, according to the National Journal, the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate. I have one of the most conservative.

In rating Obama “the most liberal senator in 2007,” the Journal's results differ with those of a highly respected study by political science professors Keith Poole and Jeff Lewis that ranked Obama as tied with Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) as the 10th “most liberal” senator in 2007. Moreover, as Media Matters previously documented, among the votes Obama took that purportedly earned him “the most liberal senator” label were: to implement the 9-11 Commission's homeland security recommendations, provide more children with health insurance, expand federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, and maintain a federal minimum wage.

Touting the Journal's 2007 Senate ratings, the National Journal Group recently highlighted the fact that, in 2003 (subscription required), the Journal rated Kerry “the ”most liberal senator," writing in an email to readers: “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 Journal has acknowledged the methodology it used to produce its Kerry “most liberal” rating -- which it continues to tout -- was flawed, and the magazine is now using a new methodology. In fact, the magazine said that it is because it changed its flawed methodology that McCain -- and other members who “missed more than half of the votes in any of the three issue categories” -- did not “receive a composite score” in the 2007 ratings. The Journal specifically noted: “This rule was imposed after Kerry was ranked the most liberal senator in our 2003 ratings despite having missed more than half of the votes in two categories.”

From the National Journal's “2007 Vote Ratings”:

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was the most liberal senator in 2007, according to National Journal's 27th annual vote ratings. The insurgent presidential candidate shifted further to the left last year in the run-up to the primaries, after ranking as the 16th- and 10th-most-liberal during his first two years in the Senate.

[...]

Members who missed more than half of the votes in any of the three issue categories did not receive a composite score in NJ's ratings. (This rule was imposed after Kerry was ranked the most liberal senator in our 2003 ratings [subscription required] despite having missed more than half of the votes in two categories.) Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the only other senator whose presidential candidacy survived the initial round of primaries and caucuses this year, 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. On social issues, which include immigration, McCain received a conservative score of 59. (McCain's composite scores from his prior years in the Senate, published in our March 2007 vote ratings issue, are available as a PDF.)

From the February 13 New York Times article:

Responding to a question about Mr. Obama's campaign so far, Mr. McCain said that the Illinois Democrat's speeches have been “singularly lacking in specifics” and noted that Mr. Obama was recently rated the most liberal Senator by National Journal.

“I respect him and the campaign that he has run,” Mr. McCain said of Mr. Obama, after a question about his decision to focus on Mr. Obama and his message of hope in his victory speech on Tuesday night. “But there is going to come a time when we have to get into specifics, and I've not observed every speech that he's given, obviously, but they are singularly lacking in specifics.”

“It's not an accident that he has, I think, according to National Journal, the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate,” he said. “I have one of the most conservative.”

Speaking before a crowd at a Wisconsin auto plant, Senator Obama delivered a blistering critique of his Democratic and Republican rivals on Wednesday, blaming Washington for the economic crisis that has gripped the nation.

From the February 14 edition of CNN's American Morning:

CHETRY: Well, Barack Obama for his part seems to be focusing less on the Democratic race with Hillary Clinton in the primary and more on a November battle with the likely Republican nominee, John McCain. Obama blasted McCain while campaigning in Wisconsin, calling him a George Bush Republican on the war and the economy.

OBAMA [video clip]: George Bush may not be on the ballot this fall, but his tax cut and economic policies are. And if John McCain wants to debate the specifics of how well the economy has worked for ordinary families over the last seven years, that is a debate that I am happy to have, because the American people know that Bush's policies have not worked for ordinary Americans.

CHETRY: John McCain fired back -- slamming Barack Obama, calling his campaign for change more style than substance.

McCAIN [video clip]: There's going to come a time where we have to get into specifics, and I've not observed every speech that he's given, obviously, but they are singularly lacking in specifics. And that's when, as the campaign moves forward, we will be portraying very stark differences. It's not an accident that he has, I think, according to the National Journal, the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate. I have one of the most conservative.

CHETRY: McCain's comments are the most pointed attack against Obama to date. Meanwhile, McCain's son Jim is back from Iraq. He served seven months there, arriving home Monday, along with 300 other Marines.