Try to get to John Kerry's left. Just try.

If you're a U.S. senator, you cannot. According to a recent analysis of the World's Greatest Deliberative Body, the Massachusetts Democrat was the "No. 1 Senate liberal in 2003."

As the archest of the Senate's arch-liberals, Kerry voted last year to the left of fellow Democrats John Edwards of North Carolina (No. 2), Barbara Boxer of California (No. 5) and Tom Harkin of Iowa (No. 10). Kerry's ayes and nays were significantly to the left of the two liberals who most conservatives would nominate for a one-way fact- finding mission to Mars: New York's Hillary Clinton (No. 7) and Massachusetts' Edward Moore Kennedy (No. 12).

At the other end of the spectrum, 14 Republican senators tied for least liberal with scores of 14 out of 100. Top Senate conservatives include Virginia's George Allen, Tennessee's Bill Frist, and Indiana's Richard Lugar.

The source for this news is not some right-wing, anti-Kerry front group, but the independent and well-regarded National Journal. This non-partisan, Washington weekly reports even-handedly on politicians and their behavior. It examined 62 Senate votes from 2003. Of these, Kerry missed 37 votes while campaigning for the White House. Kerry's blue-ribbon was based on the 25 votes he managed to cast. Among those, he took the liberal line often enough to garner a score of 97 out of 100.

Kerry's numbers put him further to the left (three points from "perfect") than the most conservative Republicans are from their "ideal" (14 points away). So, who's extreme now?

Super Tuesday's Superman has been in the Senate's liberal elite before. Among Senate left-wingers, the National Journal ranked him No. 9 in 2002. He was judged the Senate's leading leftist in 1986, 1988 and 1990.

Other organizations that evaluate legislative votes confirm Kerry's collectivism. The American Conservative Union gives Kerry a lifetime rating of five out of 100. In contrast, he has earned a 92 out of a pristine 100 from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action. Amazingly enough, this places Kerry to the left of his fellow presidential contender, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio); the outspoken statist earns a slightly less radical 90 from the ADA.

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