Coleman party unity ranking dropped to lowest ever

01/15/2008

WASHINGTON — A new study finds that Sen. Norm Coleman voted with a majority of fellow Republicans just 64 percent of the time last year on the eve of a tough re-election battle, his lowest rating since entering the Senate in 2003.

Looked at another way, the Minnesota senator opposed his party 36 percent of the time, putting him fifth among GOP senators, behind party moderates Olympia Snowe (Maine), Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania), Susan Collins (Maine) and Gordon Smith (Oregon).

The party unity ratings were published by Congressional Quarterly, a Capitol Hill publication.

The 64 percent rating follows 77 percent ratings in 2006 and 2005, 91 percent in 2004, and 92 percent in 2003. Coleman's fifth-place rating in 2007 is his highest, but not by much. In 2005, his opposition voting record was 6th among Republicans. In 2004, he was 13th in the category, his highest figure. He was 8th in 2003 and 2006.

Two of Coleman's Democratic challengers said Coleman is doing what he can to help his own re-election, not Minnesotans. A spokesman for Coleman counters that he's consistently been an "independent Republican" looking out for the state's best interests.

DFL candidate Mike Ciresi said there was an obvious reason for last year's voting record: "It's called November 4, 2008, an election," he said. "The guy moves to what is important to his election."

A spokesman for DFL candidate Al Franken, Andy Barr, said in a statement, "I don't think anybody's going to buy that he's somehow become something other than a George W. Bush Republican ... He does what he thinks will help him politically. He's not fighting for Minnesotans. He's fighting for himself."

The senator's spokesman, LeRoy Coleman, said Coleman hasn't hesitated to break with his party or the president when doing so is in the best interest of Minnesota, on issues such as providing heating assistance for low-income families.

"The senator's voting record has consistently showed him to be an independent Republican who casts his votes with Minnesota's interests first, and this latest vote analysis further validates that trend," he said in a statement.

In March 2005, when he was asked about a series of votes he cast with Democrats that year at the beginning of President Bush's second term, Coleman said he had to be more of a team player in 2004.

"There's more flexibility with the captain of your team not up for re-election," he said in an interview at the time. "There are times, last year in particular, when it's important to make sure that the team won every vote, to work with the majority. I'm still working with the majority, but I'm able to plot my own course."