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(From Washingtonian Online)
Members of Congress work hard on creating a positive image, so we usually know little about them that they don't want us to know.
But their aides know a lot--who's smart and who's dumb, who's gutsy and who's a blowhard.
Every election year we survey top Capitol Hill staff--administrative assistants, press secretaries, legislative directors, and chiefs of committee staffs--to get the lowdown. In return, we donate a dollar to a charity--Share Our Strength or the Metropolitan Police Boys and Girls Clubs--for each respondent.
The results are often surprising--particularly when aides take shots at bigwigs in their own parties. Here are their picks for the best and worst among their bosses.
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senate
BEST LEADER
1. Tom Daschle (D-SD)
2. Bill Frist (R-TN)
3. Tie: Trent Lott (R-MS), Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Daschle won all but a handful of the votes from Democratic aides. The three Republicans split the GOP vote.
WORST FOLLOWER
1. John McCain (R-AZ)
2. Zell Miller (D-GA)
Republicans won't forgive McCain his flirtation with joining Kerry's ticket. Dems zapped Miller, a speaker at the GOP convention.
WORKHORSE
1. Harry Reid (D-NV)
2. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Others getting votes: Massachusetts' Ted Kennedy, Oklahoma's Don Nickles, and Illinois' Dick Durbin.
SHOW HORSE
1. John McCain (R-AZ)
2. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
3. John Edwards (D-NC)
More than half of McCain's votes came from the GOP ranks. Schumer also took more friendly fire than enemy hits.
C-SPAN HAM
1. Robert Byrd (D-WV)
2. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
3. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Clean sweep by Democrats. McCain and Pennsylvania's Rick Santorum were top GOP vote-getters.
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house
BEST LEADER
1. Tom DeLay (R-TX)
2. Tie: Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
3. Dennis Hastert (R-IL)
Support mirrored party lines, though Hastert got Dem support.
WORST FOLLOWER
1. Ron Paul (R-TX)
Paul, a former Libertarian presidential candidate who marches to his own drum, was the runaway winner.
WORKHORSE
1. Bill Thomas (R-CA)
2. Tie: John Spratt (D-SC),
David Obey (D-WI)
Thomas takes home the first of his four blue ribbons.
SHOW HORSE
1. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX)
2. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
3. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)
Jackson-Lee drew twice as many votes--from both parties--as Pelosi.
C-SPAN HAM
1. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX)
2. Tom Tancredo (R-CO)
3. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)
Jackson-Lee wins a second gold medal for showboating.
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