America Further Divides Itself
Good morning, America. The Blood Red Moon has disappeared from the sky above and the polls are open. My day looks to be a beautiful one here in the south. So here’s to a pretty day filled with hope. I think I’ll enjoy it while I can. I think I will turn off the news and do something useful. In other words, nothing at all. I need to recharge myself as I prepare to watch America do what we do best – make our divisions worse.
As I prepped for writing about this election cycle, I found a great tool for accessing where we stand politically in America. It’s called the Bipartisan Index and it’s at the Lugar Center. The data there helps identify how well American politicians play well with others. The results are interesting. They are also frightening as they confirmed what I already knew. America and its politicians are very divided. And we as a country tend more and more to elect and reelect the division. So, we are our own worst enemy.
Unfortunately, I expect this election cycle will just continue to prove that theory. Or should I say just restate the truth? My prayer is that the least bipartisan will find a way out the door. My bet is that they will be the ones who win the largest.
Of interesting note, of the 31 worst offenders, all are Republicans. More interesting, only three people managed to get a bipartisan score of less than -2.
Mary Miller (R, IL) (-2.09076)
Marjorie Taylor Greene (R, GA) (-2.05913)
Lauren Boebert (R, CO) (-2.03033)
In the Senate races alone, out of 35 seats up for grabs, 28 Senators are seeking reelection. Fourteen of these Senators, half of those running, have negative bipartisan scale ratings. Of those fourteen, six have ratings below -1, five of whom are running for reelection.
Richard C Shelby (R, AL) (-1.97223)
Tim Scott (R, SC) (-1.65241)
Ron Johnson (R, WI) (-1.63095)
Mike Lee (R, UT) (-1.38362)
John Kennedy (R, LA) (-1.22273)
Rand Paul (R, KY) (-1.07381)
Senators between -0.5 and -1 running for reelection
Patty Murray (D, WA) (-0.96785)
James Lankford (R, OK) (-0.78172)
Alex Padilla (D, CA) (-0.64419)
Ron Wyden (D, OR) (-0.633)
In the House, the division is even more evident. In the last ratings, 325 representatives had negative bipartisan scores. Truly America is a house divided. Of those, 84 had scores below -1. Furthermore, three had scores below -2. Ouch.
[Note: I did not confirm which of these are still in Congress, alive, or seeking reelection]
Bottom 25
Mary Miller (R, IL) (-2.09076)
Marjorie Taylor Greene (R, GA) (-2.05913)
Lauren Boebert (R, CO) (-2.03033)
Andy Biggs (R, AZ) (-1.95534)
Bob Good (R, VA) (-1.95022)
Mo Brooks (R, AL) (-1.94473)
Mike Johnson (R, LA) (-1.929)
Jim Jordan (R, OH) (-1.91365)
Russ Fulcher (R, ID) (-1.84681)
Andy Harris (R, MA) (-1.7903)
Rick Allen (R, GA) (-1.7635)
Tom Tiffany (R, WI) (-1.74195)
Yvette Herrell (R, NM) (-1.74091)
Cliff Bentz (R, OR) (-1.73425)
Madison Cawthorn (R, NC) (-1.71042)
Matt Rosendale (R, MT) (-1.68911)
Scott Perry (R, PA) (-1.68288)
Bob Gibbs (R, OH) (-1.66471)
Louie Gohmert (R, TX) (-1.64768)
Jim Banks (R, IN) (-1.62577)
Dan Bishop (R, NC) (-1.60163)
Andrew Clyde (R, GA) (-1.59906)
Pat Fallon (R, TX) (-1.59533)
Randy Weber (R, TX) (-1.59068)
Jeff Duncan (R, SC) (-1.59062)
The rest
Michael Cloud (R, TX) (-1.58442)
John Carter (R, TX) (-1.58426)
Kevin Hern (R, OK) (-1.58312)
Pete Sessions (R, TX) (-1.57542)
Chip Roy (R, TX) (-1.56274)
Cori Bush (D, MO) (-1.56126)
Alex Mooney (R, WV) (-1.53742)
Steny Hoyer (D, MD) (-1.53391)
Brian Babin (R, TX) (-1.50292)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, NY) (-1.4857)
Paul Gosar (R, AZ) (-1.48443)
Gary Palmer (R, AL) (-1.47004)
Troy Carter (D, LA) (-1.46708)
John Yarmuth (D, KY) (-1.43766)
Jamaal Bowman (D, NY) (-1.43612)
Jody Hice (R, GA) (-1.43471)
Ted Budd (R, NC) (-1.43229)
Frederica Wilson (D, FL) (-1.42743)
Scott DesJarlais (R, TN) (-1.42317)
Steve Scalise (R, LA) (-1.41714)
Doug Lamborn (R, CO) (-1.39444)
Jerry Carl (R, AL) (-1.39383)
Greg Steube (R, FL) (-1.37006)
Scott Fitzgerald (R, WI) (-1.34383)
Robert Aderholt (R, AL) (-1.33665)
Rick Crawford (R, AR) (-1.32187)
Barry Loudermilk (R, GA) (-1.3028)
Lance Gooden (R, TX) (-1.2941)
Rashida Tlaib (D, MI) (-1.26971)
Sean Casten (D, IL) (-1.26766)
Matt Gaetz (R, FL) (-1.24005)
Ralph Norman (R, SC) (-1.22691)
Burgess Owens (R, UT) (-1.22585)
John Joyce (R, PA) (-1.21331)
Debbie Lesko (R, AZ) (-1.20253)
Kweisi Mfume (D, MD) (-1.19645)
Ayanna Pressley (D, MA) (-1.19054)
Clay Higgins (R, LA) (-1.18267)
Ritchie Torres (D, NY) (-1.17407)
Bob Latta (R, OH) (-1.16762)
John Rose (R, TN) (-1.15996)
Liz Cheney (R, WY) (-1.14631)
Mondaire Jones (D, NE) (-1.12582)
Beth Van Duyne (R, TX) (-1.11705)
Warren Davidson (R, OH) (-1.11349)
Julia Letlow (R, LA) (-1.11099)
Victoria Spartz (R, IN) (-1.10595)
Chuy Garcia (D, IL) (-1.08709)
Scott Franklin (R, FL) (-1.08082)
Salud Carbajal (D, CA) (-1.0798)
Tom McClintock (R, CA) (-1.06688)
Mike Rogers (R, AL) (-1.04934)
Jake LaTurner (R, KS) (-1.04654)
Jimmy Gomez (D, CA) (-1.04356)
Adriano Espaillat (D, NY) (-1.03698)
Virginia Foxx (R, NO) (-1.03589)
Barry Moore (R, AL) (-1.02288)
Kevin Brady (R, TX) (-1.00644)
Maxine Waters (D, CA) (-1.00148)