Mar 26, 2008 11:03 pm US/Central
Reality Check: How Independent Is Sen. Coleman?
(WCCO)
Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman kicked off his re-election campaign as a Republican who is independent of his party and his politics.
While some of that is true, that's not always what his voting record shows.
"I am humbled and excited to announce today that I am a candidate for another term as your United States senator," said Coleman.
IN FACT...
Coleman's record of voting with his party has changed dramatically. In his first year, Coleman voted 92 percent of the time with the Republican Party. However, it's gone down every year since then to just 64 percent last year.
"Let's give our president four more years," Coleman said at a rally in 2004.
That's NOT THE WHOLE STORY.
Coleman's has moved away from President Bush as Bush has become less popular. In 2003, he voted to support the President 98 percent of the time, but five years later his support of the president ranks at only 68 percent.
According to Congressional Quarterly, that percentage puts Coleman in the bottom 10 Republicans in loyalty to the president.
"I am willing to work with anybody who helps get the job done," Coleman said. "There are problems in this country that are too big for one party to solve."
Here is what you NEED TO KNOW.
The National Journal ranks Coleman as voting with conservatives more than 50 percent of the time and voting with liberals just over 42 percent of the time. Arguably, he's positioned himself roughly in the middle of the U.S. Senate.
That's Reality Check.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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