U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's ranking dropped drastically in 2007.
Starting in 2005, the software research firm Knowlegis ranked members of Congress on their committee positions, campaign finances and ability to amend legislation.
The first year, Dole came in 56th in the Senate, but she improved to 46th place in 2006. During those two years, the Senate had a Republican majority.
Two factors hurt Dole's ranking the following year, however.
First, the Democrats swept the 2006 Senate elections, winning a slim majority. And second, Knowlegis tweaked its ranking system slightly, taking into account earmarks and a "sizzle/fizzle" factor that takes into account scandals and outside political events such as the presidential race.
Breaking down Dole's score in 2007, Knowlegis ranked her poorly on leadership position (61st) and indirect influence (57th), but she ranked better on her ability to affect legislation (28th) and amount of money earmarked (42nd).
It also noted that she had "too few terms or years in office to have significant clout."
Blog RSS feed
