On The Issues' take on Democratic Vice-Presidential contenders from left to center

It's time to follow through with the promise I made in the footnote to Democratic Vice-Presidential contenders from left to center according to Voteview.

Cilizza listed Susan Rice, Keisha Lance Bottoms, Michelle Lujan Grisham, and Gina Raimondo as the other possibilities. McClatchy and Politico added Stacey Abrams and Gretchen Whitmer to their lists while leaving off Raimondo. None of them have served in Congress, so they don't have Voteview scores. They do have analyses at On The Issues, so if the announcement isn't made Monday, I might be able to create and post a Vice-Presidential version of OnTheIssues.org's take on the Democratic presidential candidates from left to center. Stay tuned.

It's Thursday and as of this morning, Joe Biden still hasn't announced his running mate, so I'm examining all of the dozen candidates mentioned as top possibilities at the start of the month, including Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Karen Bass, Tammy Baldwin, Val Demings, and Tammy Duckworth, who I already listed from left to center according to their Voteview scores.

Before I list the possibilities from left to center, I'm sharing my methods.

Mine was to rank the candidates by economic score from low (left) to high (right, or in this case center) to make it comparable to the liberal-moderate (there are no true conservatives running for the Democratic nomination) ranking I used last week which was based on the economic dimension. I then used the social score to break ties in the economic score with high scores being considered more liberal and low scores being considered more conservative.

Follow over the jump to see the contenders from left to center.




According to On The Issues, the most liberal candidate is not Elizabeth Warren, but Tammy Baldwin. She has an economic score of 5, the same as Warren, but is more socially liberal with a score of 95. Once again, On The Issues shows a disconnect between stated political positions and actual voting record, as it did for Bernie Sanders. On The Issues ranks him as the most liberal Senator, while Voteview ranks him fourth. Similarly, Baldwin is probably the second most liberal Senator according to On The Issues, while she's the seventh most liberal according to Voteview after Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Sanders, Ed Markey, and Mazie Hirono.

Speaking of Warren, it's time to be a good environmentalist and unretire her infographic so I can reuse it.

Elizabeth Warren has moved to the left economically since August, when her economic score was 10. It's now 5, so she has moved 5 points to the left. Her social score has remained at 88 since July, so she is now the second most liberal candidate according to On The Issues...

Warren still has an economic score of 5 and a social score of 88, so nothing has changed since February.


Just like Voteview, On the Issues ranks Karen Bass as the third most liberal pick with an economic score of 8 and a social score of 75. Like both Baldwin and Warren, the site describes her as a Hard-Core Liberal.

The next most liberal according to On The Issues is Harris. I'm not unretiring the infographic I made for her last year for the reason I stated in December.

While I'm retiring this chart because Harris has dropped out, I would have had to been retired even if she were still running. First, Harris left the campaign with a more moderate social score of 73, which, combined with her economic score of 10 places her closer to Amy Klobuchar than Joe Biden. Harris ended her run as the fourth most liberal member of the field according to On The Issues.

Time for a new image.


As I wrote above, Harris has an economic score of 10 and a social score of 73, which hasn't changed since December. That ranks her fourth according to On The Issues in contrast to Voteview, which ranked her second.

Just like Harris shared her first On The Issues meme with Joe Biden, she's sharing this one with Val Demings, who has an economic score of 10 and a social score of 68. While it places her to the right of Harris because of the more moderate social score, it places her on the same spot on the Nolan Grid according to On The Issues, as the site rounds both 73 and 68 to 70. On The Issues considers both Harris and Demings Populist-Leaning Liberals.


Now for Michigan's Governor, Gretchen Whitmer. According to On The Issues, she has an economic score of 13 and a social score of 83, which leads the site to describe her as a Hard-Core Liberal, even though I rank her as the sixth most liberal among the contenders.


Tammy Duckworth rated as the most moderate possible pick according to Voteview, while On The Issues considers her to be a Hard-Core Liberal with an economic score of 20 and a social score of 80. Still, there is something to it, as she is to the right of Joe Biden, who has an economic score of 15 and a social score of 80.

To the center of Duckworth, who ranks as the seventh most liberal contender, stands New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham with an economic score of 23 and a social score of 80. Since On The Issues rounds 23 to 20, she shares a spot on the Nolan Grid with Duckworth, so she's also rated as a Hard-Core Liberal, although just barely, as an economic score 2 points higher would round from 25 to 30, placing her with the next two candidates.


Two women that On The Issues rates as Libertarian-Leaning Progressives share the next infographic. Former Georgia State Representative Stacey Abrams ranks as the more liberal with an economic score of 28 and a social score of 78, exactly where she stood in June 2019. Either Abrams is very consistent or On The Issues hasn't updated her rating in more than a year.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms flanks Abrams to her center with an economic score of 30 and a social score of 78, making her the second most moderate candidate being considered.


The most moderate contender is former United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, who has an economic score of 48 and a social score of 55. Those scores rate her as a Centrist according to On The Issues. However, I have the same opinion of that rating as I did of Wayne Messam's; should she be selected, more of her positions will become known and she will migrate to the left, just as Messam did.

That's it for the Veepstakes until Biden announces. Wouldn't it be a kick if he does so on National Veep Day? I hope he does; it would be so appropriate.