Ranking Senate partisans

I think it is very intersting to hear from Senators themselves on who they enjoy working with and the members that help get things accomplished for them. I was happy to see that Kennedy was not forgotten by his peers despite his lack of time in D.C. lately. It is nice to see that his longtime record and service to this country have not gone unnoticed and that he is still in the thoughts of people he has served with for years. When I saw him throw out the first pitch at the Red Sox game for the home opener, he looked cheerful and upbeat despite obvious signs of attrition. I was not surprised to see Democrats rank the Maine Senators as the people they enjoy working with given how the stimulus package was essentially passed because of their decision to buck party lines. Senators Snowe and Collins have to be a bit more liberal than their fellow Republicans just from the standpoint that their constituency leans liberal so I am not entirely sure that this ranking is the most telling thing to come out of the poll. It appears that Senator McCain is considered the maverick like he claimed during the presidential campaign as he came in as a guy that was well liked by all involved. However, the most interesting dismissal from the list was Senator Specter who seems to have caused more controversy than either party would like. In my opinion, Democrats should be hailing Specter for his help because without him they have no chance to do what they want with the Employee Free Choice Act or similar legislation. Republicans are justified in not taking an affinity to him because he hurt their chances to make the stimulus more friendly to their platform. All in all, these rankings do not mean much in the scope of things, but it is just fascinating to see how members really feel about one another.