Bill Theobold raises the question, citing a National Journal analysis of 2019 U.S. Senate votes that found Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker are not among the most conservative members of the U.S. Senate.
So what, you may ask? Well, the finding shows what may be vulnerability for the two as Alexander seeks to advance in Republican leadership in the Senate and Corker looks to win a second six-year term in 2012.
Alexander ranked 30th most conservative in the 40-member GOP delegation last year, while Corker ranked 27th.
What makes those numbers stand out more is what happened to half of the 10 GOP senators to Alexander’s left, so to speak. Four have left the Senate: Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, George Voinovich of Ohio, Robert Bennett of Utah and Kit Bond of Missouri. Bennett was defeated in the Republican primary for not being conservative enough, in part because of his support for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which helped several large financial firms and automakers GM and Chrysler.