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DEL.ICIO.USWe’re No. 49! We’re No. 49!
In D.C., we've got more clout than Arkansas, but not Puerto Rico. Thank God for Guam.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Whenever Washington doesn’t treat us fairly - a military base is closed, a peanut subsidy is dismissed - there is whining that Georgia lacks anyone with the clout of a Richard Russell, Sam Nunn or Newt Gingrich.
It’s been a subjective argument. Until now.
A Washington government relations firm, Knowlegis, this week announced that it had assigned numerical values to the influence wielded by each member of the House and Senate. Then it averaged the scores for the entire delegation.
The verdict? Georgia has less influence in Washington than any state except Arkansas. Even Puerto Rico swings more weight, on average.
The good news is that our phone calls will be returned before any placed by the District of Columbia, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or Guam - which were also included in the survey.
See for yourself here.
Knowlegis spokesman James Vaughn said individual rankings of members of Congress were based on their position, seniority, and on their ability to change the course of legislation - whether through maneuverings on the floor or in the media.
Here’s the member-by-member lowdown for Georgia:
Comments
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By Erick Erickson
May 17, 2006 05:09 PM | Link to this
That kind of sucks that John Barrow has less influence than Cynthia McKinney.
By John D
May 17, 2006 06:14 PM | Link to this
From the say anything you want about me as long as you spell my name right department: It’s Jim Marshall not John Marshall. Maybe there should be a scale score for political reporting too.
By getalife
May 17, 2006 06:18 PM | Link to this
Franklin to veto ethics bill
Send her to Washington!
By Gabriel Sterling
May 17, 2006 07:10 PM | Link to this
John Barrow must have to work hard to be less influential than Cynthia McKinney. Who are the five that rank lower than him??
By The Other Andy
May 17, 2006 08:05 PM | Link to this
My question is: who’s John Barrow?? And who were the 5 representatives with even less influence than him?
By Cletus Snow
May 18, 2006 02:16 AM | Link to this
When you look at the people we elect, what else could you expect.Can you believe that McKinney has been elected more than once? I really don’t think she could have been elected in Floriduh,do you.Some of the others are almost as comical,but we keep sending them back to washington to embarass us again.
By bill francisco
May 18, 2006 07:09 AM | Link to this
Don’t feel bad if you don’t know John Barrow. I’m in his district and nobody here knows him either. He doesn’t know much but he compensates by not doing much.
By Nicholas
May 18, 2006 09:00 AM | Link to this
I would think that Mr. Barrow’s ranking reflects him being a freshman representative in the minority. Ms. McKinney on the other hand is the one who should feel embarrassed to be rated so low because of her seniority.
By Reid
May 18, 2006 09:04 AM | Link to this
I’m no John Barrow fan, but you have to remember that he’s a first-term member of the minority party in the House. The bottom of the bottom.
While Lynn Westmoreland is a freshman as well, his influence is considerably higher due to being in the majority party. Lynn doesn’t do anything up there either, but that’s precisely why I like him! Congress is much less dangerous when it does nothing…
By T1
May 18, 2006 09:59 AM | Link to this
What’s really interesting is that Tom Price, a Freshman, has more influence than Sanford Bishop and Cynthia McKinney. They were both first elected in 1992.