The Web site OnTheIssues.org is a good place to go to find out how your U.S. House member or U.S. Senator votes on key issues. Based on their votes, OnTheIssues.org plots members’ location on a political-ideology grid. I consolidated the plots of our 13 members of Congress below:
Here’s how the Web site characterizes each of our congressmen:
• District 1 Democrat G.K. Butterfield: Libertarian-leaning liberal
• District 2 Democrat Bob Etheridge: Liberal-leaning populist
• District 3 Republican Walter Jones: Populist-leaning conservative
• District 4 Democrat David Price: Hard-core liberal
• District 5 Republican Virginia Foxx: Populist-leaning conservative
• District 6 Republican Howard Coble: Hard-core conservative
• District 7 Democrat Mike McIntyre: Conservative-leaning populist
• District 8 Republican Robin Hayes: Hard-core conservative
• District 9 Republican Sue Myrick: Hard-core conservative
• District 10 Republican Patrick McHenry: Populist-leaning conservative
• District 11 Democrat Heath Shuler: Liberal-leaning populist
• District 12 Democrat Mel Watt: Hard-core liberal
• District 13 Democrat Brad Miller: Populist-leaning liberal
For the record, Mel Watt’s position is farther out on the left than Ted Kennedy‘s, occupying the same political space as Massachusetts House members Ed Markey and Barney Frank. Also, N.C.’s senators are both hard-core conservatives, according to OnTheIssues.org.
UPDATE: My JLF colleague Jon Sanders says this grid is more accurate:
