Well, knock thiyself out.
http://www.clubforgrowth.org/projects/scorecard/?year=2012&chamber=2&state=Any&party=Any&memberName=
Matheson is 141 out of 435 my own Congress person somewhat lower and considered conservative although the voting record doesn’t quite support the title.
So, either the House isn’t near as conservative as anyone might think since you can’t even go down 150 out of 435 and still find a conservative, or the definition of conservative is screwed up, or any test of voting record for conservative is screwed up, or no one past the top ten meet the test, or all four.
Thanks for the link...
Obviously, Club for Growth must have different standards and priorities for ranking “Conservative.” Some of this looks like a Paulite standard. Any group that would give Justin Amash #1 is going to be questionable. I don’t trust Amash, and his going to bat for the Iranian President against a joke made by McCain was outright bizarre.
I know for a fact that Scott DesJarlais (ranked 107th), despite his personal problems of the past, is the most Conservative member from my state of TN, yet this list has Stephen Fincher, who is establishment-leaning and takes gov’t subsidies despite being quite wealthy, as the “best” from TN. Cassidy of LA, the leading challenger to Landrieu, is a RINO to the point that I’ve accused him of being a ringer for her next year, yet he ranks at 77.
Allen West at 106th place, below RINO Pete Sessions of TX ?
Matheson jumped from 42% to 68% for an election year by their reckoning (which again contradicts the ACU, which says he is still in the low 40s). That simply doesn’t pass the smell test, either. Many of the Dems appear to have “doubled” their scores from the prior year, but there certainly has been no movement from the caucus in reality to be headed in the right direction (if anything, the GOP moving left — and your hypothesis that Congress isn’t nearly as Conservative as some think is actually correct).
In any event, we’re probably better off getting an amalgamation of the scores from different groups to rank individuals (and I’d even take into account public statements beyond just their voting records). Even the ACU gets a bit odd with its ratings from year to year.