Senator Blumenthal: Ideology and Voting

Blumenthal's DW-Score is -0.418 for the 112th, which was good for the 8th most liberal in the Senate (Bernie Sanders was the most, Lee from Utah being classified as the most conservative). This matches with Govtrack ranking Senator Blumenthal as the most progressive Senate sophomore. The ADA gives Blumenthal a ratting of 90%, indicating very liberal. The National Journal, an American magazine that reports on the current political environment and emerging political and policy trends, in 2013 ranked Blumenthal as the most progressive Senator.

The reason for Senator Blumenthal being so progressive is the State he represents. Gallup, one of the largest polling intuitions in the world, ranked Connecticut as the 4th most liberal state in the Union (including District of Columbia). Connecticut is a New-England state, which has traditionally been very liberal geographically. An article from the New-York Times, a major news source, described this geographic coincidence in a 2014 article, "The American political divide may have arisen not so much from different conceptions of human nature as from differences in how best to tame it. The North and coasts are extensions of Europe and continued the government-driven civilizing process that had been gathering momentum since the Middle Ages. The South and West preserved the culture of honor that emerged in the anarchic territories of the growing country, tempered by their own civilizing forces of churches, families and temperance." Blumenthal's interest group ratings reflect the states preferences. Blumenthal is rated 100% by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun control group, which makes sense given the liberal nature of Connecticut and the tragedy of the Sandy-Hook school shooting. Blumenthal is also given 100% by pro-choice groups NARAL and Planned Parenthood, which is in line with the views of the state as a whole and makes it hard for Blumenthal to be portrayed as a moderate.

Govtrack also shows Senator not being bi-partisan, he is ranked as the least bi-partisan out of all Senate Sophomores. Out of the 398 bills Blumenthal co-sponsored, only 16% were introduced by a non-Democrat. In addition, Govtrack ranks Blumenthal in the bottom 20% of all Senate Democrats for writing bi-partisan bills. This overall reflects the fact Blumenthal is one of the most liberal senator representing one of the most liberal states during a period of polarization in Congress. It would be politically difficult for Blumenthal to sign a bill created by a conservative senator. Blumenthal is bi-partisan on issues that his constituents like, such as veterans benefits. In February of this year Blumenthal introduced legislation with Senator Moran (R-KS) to expand benefits for veterans.