It does say something about their priorities that it took HRC and Obama so long to come out with their energy/climate change policies. But I'm glad to see them responding to Edwards' substantive plan (Hillary's "strategic energy fund" is straight from Edwards' "New Energy Fund". I just hope whoever is elected sticks to them.

Richard L.Adloff wrote:

"Hey! I wonder which corporation has decided to go into alternative engery . . . "

You know, that might be cynically funny if it wasn't exactly the point that many of us environmental activists make over and over in public policy hearings etc. That there is, indeed, good money to be made in alternative energy technology and cleaning up the environment.

What's the problem here, comrade?

Oh, I remember. Hillary's a triangulating, corporate shill (with a lifetime liberal voting record in the Senate that smokes the $400 haircut populists' voting record on progressive issues there) Sorry, I forgot for a second.

Matt wrote:

" . . . and only days before the caucases, hillary has decided to come up with a stance on the environment."

Yeah, only a mere sixty-six days to be exact. LOL at another Hillogynist on this board.

The triangulatin' rhymes-with-buppity-itch can't do nothin' right in their loony left-behind eyes.

You go girl.

Don't let Al Gore run off with the green franchise.

Stand by your man---with Bill's very close, direct supervision, he will let you pretend that you were the woman of action---while Gore was all talk. It is very important to him as he takes his place in history.

Let's hope it is more substantive than your "experience" with healthcare. You are going to need more of his direct supervision this time.

Kucinich has been talking about this for years, but when Clinton mentions it TPM cares.

colon-

yes, hillary has such a progressive voting record such as her stellar kyl-lieberman choice. guess she didnt have time to gather a focus group for that vote.

also, the fact that it has taken her so long to create an environmental stand shows her priority of the very passionate position to which you supposedly espouse.

do you have anything substantive to say in hillary's defense or will you take the standard hillary supporter stance of calling anyone who doesnt vote for her a sexist?

Oops. 1998 was a typo (for John Edwards above) -- copied and pasted 2000 twice, then changed the dates, then looked up the score for '99 but should have deleted '98. (That was the year Edwards was elected. '99 was the first year he served.) My bad.

CalD:

Thanks for your post exposing who are the most progressive liberal progressives in the Senate based on their voting records as ranked by an independent organization.

No surprise that Hillary and Obama beat out the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do "populist."

Since we have their head-to-head Senate voting records on liberal issues to compare here, let's see who is the real liberal progressive and who comes off as Republican-lite on votes that Senator Clinton and Senator Edwards disagreed on when they served in the Senate together. Sorry for the long post, but I made a thorough investigation in order to make my point.

From the Senate voting record:

Senator Edwards voted YES on the 2000 Bankruptcy Act (along with the Republican majority). Senator Hillary Clinton had not been elected yet, but this was a bill that President Bill Clinton vetoed as being “too harsh on America’s poor and middle class families.” It was a precursor to the 2001 Bankruptcy Reform Act (that Edwards also voted YES on).

On the Wellstone Amendment to the 2001 Bankruptcy Reform Act that would have exempted those made bankrupt due to excessive medical bills, Senator Edwards voted NO along with all Senate Republicans. Senator Clinton voted YES along with most Democrats including Feingold, Boxer, Kennedy, Kerry, and, of course, Wellstone.

On Paul Wellstone’s Amendment to 2001 Bankruptcy Reform Act that would have recalculated the definition of monthly income to the advantage of poor and middle class families, Senator Edwards voted NO along with every Republican. Senator Clinton voted YES along with Boxer, Feingold, Kennedy, Kerry, and Wellstone.

On Paul Wellstone’s 2001 campaign reform Amendment closing the loopholes for allowing for 527 group political TV ads. Ironically, since passage would have prevented the Swift Boaters in 2004, Senator Edwards voted NO. Senator Clinton voted YES on this Amendment.

On Senator Kerry’s amendment that would have provided 2:1 matching funds to Senate campaigns of up to $200, encouraging small donors like most of us are and increasing our contribution power, Senator Edwards voted NO. Senator Clinton voted YES. The amendment was tabled/killed (based on the NO votes). The vote wasn't broken down by party lines on this one in the Senate record.

Senator Bingaman offered an amendment that would have banned phony negative “attack ads” by requiring that vehicles that ran such ads would have to allow response time. Senator Edwards voted to table this amendment along with nearly every Republican. Senator Clinton voted along with nearly all the liberal Democrats to further this amendment. (It was tabled, that is, killed).

On the initial budget guidelines sought by the Bush administration in 2001 (including his tax cuts), Edwards voted Yes along with every Republican and Zell Miller. Clinton voted No along with the rest of the liberal Democrats.

On Senator Bob Graham’s amendment to this tax cut bill which would have decreased the lower marginal rates for poor and middle class taxpayers, Senator Edwards voted No along with every Republican. Senator Clinton voted Yes along with Feingold, Kennedy, Kerry, Wellstone, and 29 other Democrats.

Senator Feinstein motioned to send the tax cut bill back to the Finance Committee with orders to spread the Estate Tax exemption cuts more fairly. Senator Edwards voted No along with every Republican. Senator Clinton voted Yes along with most Democrats including Boxer, Feingold, Kennedy, and Wellstone.

Senator Wellstone presented an Amendment to No Child Left Behind to prevent it from being an “unfunded mandate.” Senator Edwards voted No along with every Republican. Senator Clinton voted Yes along with 30 other liberal Democrats.

Of course we know the famous Iraq War authorization vote where both Hillary and John agreed with and voted with the Republicans (and many other Democrats for that matter). I just thought you might be interested in a few of the votes where they disagreed on the record – not just from the sidelines where Edwards likes to sit and carp.

The cliché is that you are entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts. These are the facts from the Senate voting records.

John Edwards and his supporters claim that he is the progressive and that Hillary represents the status quo or is just a milder version of a Republican. Read these facts about their head-to-head voting records and be enlightened as to who stood most often with the Republicans and who voted most often with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. It’s really no contest. Hillary has a 90% lifetime record of voting with the progressive Democrats (the 12th most liberal in the Senate), while Edwards lifetime liberal voting record stands at 78%.

Again, now that John Edwards stands outside the Senate he finds it easy to take potshots at Hillary. Oh well, that’s not really so hard to understand - seeing how he opposed her (and most other liberal progressive Dems) quite often when he was the Senator from North Carolina.