Which Republican Candidate Is The Most Conservative? Check Out Results Of One Study
All during this Republican primary race, we’ve heard the candidates and the media pontificate on which candidate is the most conservative.
More often than not we hear how conservative former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and former Speaker Newt Gingrich as compared to the likes of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Texas Congressman Ron Paul.
In a study by the American Journal of Political Science done years before this current race, the researchers looked at all the roll calls cast in the House and Senate for the 1937 – 2002 period for members of the House and Senate, and for Presidents, coordinates are based upon Presidential Support Roll Calls compiled by Congressional Quarterly.
It ranked the politicians from 1 to 3200, 1 being most liberal, 3200 being most conservative, and we find is neither Santorum nor Gingrich have the most conservative record.
Rick Santorum is ranked 2,674, while Newt Gingrich does slightly better at 2,893. There is no data on either Gov Romney or Gov Perry since neither held federal office.
What about supposed “dangerous” and “gadfly” Ron Paul?
Of all the members of the Congress and the White House from 1937 to 2002, Ron Paul ranks 3,200; not one person has a more conservative record.