Sen. Clinton: liberal lioness

A recent poll by Rasmussen Reports, according to The Washington Post, revealed that Sen. Hillary Clinton was making some progress in her unceasing efforts to portray herself as a moderate. Today, only 43 percent of Americans view her as a liberal, compared to 51 percent in January. Meanwhile, the percentage of Americans who consider the former first lady a moderate has increased from 27 percent to 34 percent. Mrs. Clinton’s path to moderation represents a triumph of spin over reality.

Mrs. Clinton witnessed how her husband was twice elected president as a self-described “new Democrat.” Seeking to re-invent her liberal image for 2008, she clearly knows that American voters have repeatedly rejected authentic liberals like herself. She no doubt remembers what happened to Hubert Humphrey in 1968, George McGovern in 1972, Walter Mondale in 1984, Michael Dukakis in 1988 and John Kerry in 2004.

So, Mrs. Clinton’s political handlers understandably want to soften her hard-earned liberal credentials. Beyond the impeccably liberal record she has established in decades of work as an activist, there is the rather large matter of her Senate voting record.

Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), which proudly describes itself as the nation’s “premier liberal lobbying organization,” gave Mrs. Clinton a score of 95 percent for her 2004 votes. It was the fourth year in a row Mrs. Clinton achieved that high score. Mrs. Clinton is nearly indistinguishable from Ted Kennedy, the Senate’s liberal lion.

But don’t take just ADA’s word on it. The American Conservative Union, which is to the political right what ADA is to the left, gave Mrs. Clinton, like Mr. Kennedy, a score of 0. Mrs. Clinton also achieved a 100 percent score for the 108th Congress (2003-2004) from NARAL Pro-Choice America and a 0 score for the 108th from the National Right to Life Committee. Declaring herself to be a moderate doesn’t make it so.