U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, both Republicans representing Georgia, were named two of the 19 SenateWinners by American Conservative Union (ACU) for year 2012, in the annual scorecard ACU released on Thursday.
The scorecard is designed to measure the level of conservatism for every member of U.S. Congress.
Chambliss, who announced retirement from his senior position in the Senate in January, received a score of 84 points. Isakson, a junior Senator, received a score of 80 points.
Any lawmaker with a score of 80 points or higher made it to the “winners” circle.
The ACU is an oldest conservative grassroots organization in the country. The political organization advocates for conservative policies and every year it provides a numerical indicator for every lawmaker on how they score on what the ACU considers conservative initiatives.
This morning, conservative pundit and Atlanta WSB Radio talk show host Erick Erickson criticized the 2012 scorecard, calling it “embarrassing” in a scathing review on his Redstate.com website.
Erickson was most distraught by ACU’s top pick among Senate Republicans – Mitch McConnell.
“You will be as surprised as I was to find that Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican Leader with a history of undermining conservatives in the Senate, has a 100% score for 2012 — higher, in fact, that either Jim DeMint or Tom Coburn,” said Erickson in his morning commentary. “I had to laugh. I have to hope someone on the ACU’s Board has some sense of shame.”
One must wonder if the conservative organization has sensed a shift in the Republican Party, which after the disappointing results of the 2012 elections has been leaning towards the more centrist, moderate lawmakers and slowly distancing itself from the uber-conservative Tea Party.
The ACU also puts together an annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), attended by scores of conservative activists and elected officials. The 2013 event will take place March 14-16, in Washington, D.C.
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