“The Progressive Professor” Favorites In The US Senate, 113th Congress!

With the new Senate coming in on January 3 for the 113th Congress, this author and blogger has decided to indicate who his “favorite” members, those he has real respect and admiration for, and expects great things from for the next two years. The following list is not ranked, but simply a list of the top ten by state alphabetically! At the end, though, the author will list the two Senators he most admires, who he sees as tied for BEST! So here goes!

Tom Harkin of Iowa
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
Al Franken of Minnesota
Sherrod Brown of Ohio
Jeff Merkley of Oregon
Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island
Bernie Sanders of Vermont
Tim Kaine of Virginia
Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin

Seven of the above are incumbents, while Warren, Kaine and Baldwin are newcomers to the US Senate. And seven are men, while three are women.

And my favorite Senators of this group would have to be a tie between:

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, true heroes in my mind!

Notice that FIVE of these Senators come from the Midwest (both from Minnesota, and Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio).

Three come from New England–Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island.

One comes from Virginia and one comes from Oregon.

And both favorites are New England neighbors.

This is the true progressive in action, with the Midwest, the area of progressivism in the past century, and New England as the areas of dominance, but with Oregon and Virginia adding admirable members to this select group!

The author invites commentary on this entry!

5 comments on ““The Progressive Professor” Favorites In The US Senate, 113th Congress!

  1. Paul Doyle December 29, 2012 9:21 pm

    Professor,
    Hard to understand how three of your favorite Senators are those who haven’t served a day in office yet. Part of an admirable list of political people, yes; Senators, no.
    I would imagine you would have to show your legislative prowess first before they can become favorites, no?

  2. Ronald December 30, 2012 2:06 am

    Hi, Paul! I have listed Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Baldwin and Tim Kaine based on their past records of achievement, goals, and motivations, and all three excite me as to their assured contributions to the Senate. I think all three, but especially Warren and Kaine, could be future potential Presidential candidates. It is not as if these three individuals do not have a public record to examine and to judge the likelihood of their productive futures!

  3. Maggie Mitchell December 30, 2012 12:31 pm

    LOL! Paul, based his past record at prognostication, my money is on Dr. Feinman!

  4. Paul Doyle December 30, 2012 3:25 pm

    Everyone is a “future potential”, but it if I was a betting person, my money is that none of the three will ever be standing to accept the party’s nomination for President. And it’s not that I don’t admire all three.
    There has not been a woman nominated for their party’s run for President. Warren is a first time elected individual who will turn 64 in 2013. I don’t think she has or will gain enough national credibility to earn the nod. She has financial legal background, which would be fought by the financial special interests and she has had no foreign or international credibility. I just think it is too late to start a political career and expect that she would top a party’s ticket . Just my opinion.

    Tammy Baldwin is the youngest of the three @51 in 2013. But, seriously, in addition to becoming the first woman nominee, she would have to overcome the gay issue. Even though there have been great strides in pro-gay rights, I seriously doubt you are going to convince the more conservative blue states, never mind the red states.

    Tim Kaine, of the three, may be the closest to be viable. But, he has presided over 11 executions as governor of Virginia. Hardly a progressive record. His views of gay rights have only evolved recently. This may sound like a contradiction after why I said that Baldwin, but I don’t think he has enough “magnetics” to coin a phrase, to convince the party that he can be the chosen one.

    Hey, all three could evolve, but I just don’t see any of the three to be accepting the party’s nomination at this point.

    I know that the old guard of the party is just that–old. Biden, Clinton certainly time has passed. But, I don’t see any of three above in the vanguard. Time will tell, obviously.

  5. Ronald December 30, 2012 4:38 pm

    Actually, Paul, I totally agree with you that Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Baldwin, and Tim Kaine would be highly unlikely to be Presidential nominees, with Warren’s age, Baldwin’s sexuality, and Kaine’s being a Southerner, all negatives. But that does not mean that they cannot be outstanding Senators and stars of the party, which I think they will be.

    Among the group of ten I mentioned, however, Amy Klobuchar is a real possibility, I think, to be a rising star for the Presidency, and as an alternative for women if Hillary Clinton does not run, which I think is highly likely, and an alternative in age for Hillary and Joe Biden, a real problem for them both. And she offers a Senate alternative for President more to the left than Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, a likely Presidential seeker. And Klobuchar also offers an alternative to two Gubernatorial possibilities who are likely to announce for President, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo!

    Isn’t it great to speculate for the sake of speculation? 🙂

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