Is Elizabeth Warren's liberal cred overhyped?

One vote-ranking system says yes. The real story is a bit more complicated.

Elizabeth Warren
(Image credit: (Drew Angerer/Getty Images))

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has been hailed as a progressive hero and, though she's personally panned the idea, a possible lefty alternative to Hillary Clinton in 2016. It stands to reason that an analysis of her voting record would peg her as one of the most liberal members of the Senate, right?

Which is why it's surprising to see that National Journal's annual vote rating — which ranks lawmakers on a liberal to conservative scale — finds her to be the 31st-most liberal senator last year. Warren comes in one spot behind South Dakota's moderate Sen. Tim Johnson (D), who only "evolved" on gay marriage in 2013 and is retiring at the end of this year.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.