National Journal counters Republican spin.

From Basie:

No doubt by now you have heard the Republican talking point that John Kerry is the most liberal member of the Senate and John Edwards is the 4th most liberal senator. President Bush and his cohorts have certainly enjoyed using this National Journal rating to lambast Senator Kerry. You might have even seen Jon Stewart tear into Congressman Henry Bonilla for this claim. Well, it turns out Stewart had it all right at the time, and not the mainstream media that continued to repeat the Republican talking point.

An interesting article today from The National Journal, Charles Green
debunks this myth that John Kerry is an uber-liberal. Here's what they write:

In short, our magazine -- or, more precisely, our annual congressional vote ratings edition -- has become a Republican talking point in the 2004 presidential campaign. And that's been a fascinating, and disconcerting, experience. Fascinating because we're more used to being cited in congressional hearings than on the Today show. Disconcerting because the shorthand used to describe our ratings of Kerry and Edwards is sometimes misleading -- or just plain wrong [italics added by Basie].