Today, less than eighty days before Election Day, I am pleased to release the 2006 Freedom Democrats House Scorecard. This scorecard builds on the findings of our 2005 Scorecard, but makes significant changes in order to more accurately judge the House of Representatives. Before discussing the results, I would like to present the findings as displayed on the quintessential Nolan Chart.

The two red dots in the libertarian quadrant are Ron Paul of Texas and Jeff Flake of Arizona. Democrat Melissa Bean of Illinois is just along the edge of the libertarian quadrant. Other notable members are Republicans Walter Jones of North Carolina and John Duncan of Tennessee, occupying the corner where Centrists, Libertarians, and Conservatives meet, and Democrat Jim Cooper of Tennessee, who is just south of the line between Centrists and Libertarians. The green dot is Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The dark blue square is the average for the Democratic Party and the dark red square is the average for the Republican Party.

A detailed discussion of the social and economic aspects of the scorecards, including votes, can be found elsewhere on the site. The focus here will be on the scorecard overall. In brief, key changes were made to the economic scorecard to find better votes on spending restraint. This explains the significant drop in economic scores for the Democratic Party.

The graphic helps to illustrate that the Republican Party has largely become an authoritarian party, despite the fact that the two libertarian members still affiliate with the GOP. Only a small wing of the party remains true to conservative principles of fiscal restraint and economic freedom. In contrast, the Democratic Party is largely a liberal party with a more populist wing that includes many members who are not consistent in supporting civil liberties and social rights.

Polling information from the Pew reveals that this parallels the situation among voters. Democratic activists tend to be united on economic issues but divided by social issues. The reverse is true of Republicans; the Pew notes the recent rise of so-called "big government conservatives." With both parties attempting to appeal to "populists" or "authoritarians," it is significant that the Republican Party was able to win both "populists" and "libertarians" by the same 60-40 margin in the 2004 election. It is the belief of Freedom Democrats that the Democratic Party would have greater success if it focused its attentions to libertarian voters.

This scorecard is both good news and bad news for libertarian Democrats. The good news is that the Democratic Party as a whole is "more" libertarian than the Republican Party. There is a significant gap between the two parties on issues of personal liberty. The new scorecard shows both parties failing on economic issues, but with the Republicans slightly ahead. This is the bad news for libertarian Democrats, that much needs to be done to encourage greater fiscal responsibility within the party. The focus of libertarians within the Democratic Party should be on promoting fiscally responsible candidates.

The two high scoring Democrats may show the way. Melissa Bean of Illinois is still in her first term; she defeated long time incumbent Phil Crane in 2004. Although more to the right on social issues than ideal, she has shown herself to be a staunch fiscal conservative (according to the old, traditional definition of the phrase). She has received a rare endorsement from the Chamber of Commerce, an organization that typically supports Republicans, in her reelection bid.

Jim Cooper of Tennessee is also a deficit hawk and an opponent of wasteful spending. He has received media attention recently for pushing to publish the "Financial Report of the United States." This report, which more accurately tracks the budget and future financial obligations like Social Security than traditional budget methods, will hopefully help inform voters about the reality of our country's coming fiscal crisis.

A file showing the social, economic, and average scores for each member of the House can be found here. A detailed discussion of the votes can be found on the pages for the social scorecard and the economic scorecard.