Who's Most Popular In Congress?

Congress is sort of like high school: it's cliquey, often immature, and there are bells that tell you when votes are happening. It's also a place where 541 vastly divergent personalities (including non-voting members) are all thrown together. All are charismatic or driven in their own way, all have ambition, and and all won multi-million-dollar popularity contests in their home states or districts to get there.

It is with those dynamics in mind that Newsmax surveyed "a wide spectrum of congressional staffers, lobbyists, and even former members of Congress" to get a list of the most popular--and unpopular--members of Congress.
On the most-loved list:
• Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
• Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
• Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
• Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
• Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
• Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY)
• Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
• Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
• Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
• Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
• Sen. Dick Lugar (R-OH)
• Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)
• Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
• Rep. John Dingell (D-MI)
• Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI)
• Rep. Peter King (R-NY)
• Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL)
• Rep. Jerry Moran (R-KS)
• Rep. Tom Price (R-GA)
• Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-WA)
• Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)
• Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR)
• Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
• Rep. Mark Warner (D-VA)
• Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL).

And the least-liked:
• Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA)
• Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
• Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX)
• Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA)
• Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)

See the Newsmax story for blurbs on exactly why these members are loved and not-so-loved.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/12/whos-most-popular-in-congress/31613/