Ted Kennedy: Mr. Bipartisan

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Okay, that’s not exactly his reputation to outsiders, and particularly among conservatives. But within the world’s most exclusive club, it turns out that the Liberal Lion is considered the easiest Democrat to work with. That’s according to this survey of Senators by The Hill newspaper. Here’s the full list:

THE MOST, AND LEAST BIPARTISAN MEMBERS OF THE SENATE

Who’s the easiest senator to work with across the aisle? Who’s the toughest? The Hill asked all 99 seated senators about their colleagues’ bipartisanship, and the following names — arranged by frequency, from top to bottom — were cited the most.

MOST BIPARTISAN

DEMOCRATS
1. Edward Kennedy (Mass.)
2. Tom Carper (Del.)
3. Chris Dodd (Conn.)
4. (tied) Evan Bayh (Ind.)
4. (tied) Tom Harkin (Iowa)

REPUBLICANS
1. Susan Collins (Maine)
2. Olympia Snowe (Maine)
3. Orrin Hatch (Utah)
4. (tied) Richard Lugar (Ind.)
4. (tied) John McCain (Ariz.)

LEAST BIPARTISAN

DEMOCRATS
1. Patrick Leahy (Vt.)
2. Charles Schumer (N.Y.)
3. Chris Dodd (Conn.)
4. Dick Durbin (Ill.)
5. John Kerry (Mass.)

REPUBLICANS
1. Jim Bunning (Ky.)
2. David Vitter (La.)
3. Tom Coburn (Okla.)
4. Jim DeMint (S.C.)
5. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.)

UPDATE: From commenter Donovong: Funny – Dodd is third on BOTH lists. You must have to work hard to equally please as many people as you piss off. Would you call that balance?