Friday, March 23, 2007
Just last May, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan and then-U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland were scraping the bottom of the barrel when it came to power in the U.S. House, according to a ranking compiled by a Washington, D.C., firm.
Out of 435 House members, Ryan of Niles, D-17th, was ranked 401st with Strickland, then a Lisbon Democrat running for governor, one notch below him.
Knowlegis LLC ranks members of Congress based on a variety of factors.
They include committee assignments, tenure, leadership positions, the ability to influence the congressional agenda or outcome of votes, the amount of money they contribute to other members of Congress, and how much power they have to pass legislation or shape it through amendments.
What isn't listed, but should be understood, is if you are a member of the political party in power you're going to be ranked higher than those in the minority party regardless of how long you've been in Congress or your past accomplishments.
In what Knowlegis is calling its "Pre-Season Power Rankings," only eight Republicans are in the top 150. Only a handful of Democrats were in the top 150 in the May 2006 ranking. With Democrats taking control over the House and Senate this year, its party members are at the top of the recently-released congressional rankings.
Knowlegis placed a disclaimer stating the "pre-season" ranking is based on "starting positions at the beginning of a 'legislative season,' and does not necessarily reflect the actual outcome of how [members of Congress] may or may not exercise their power over the course of the year."
Republicans made a big deal last year of Strickland's low ranking during the campaign saying he was ineffective as a legislator and would be ineffective if he was elected governor. But officials with Knowlegis, which posts the rankings on its www.congress.org Web site, said at the time that Strickland lost power because he was running for governor.
If Strickland was seeking re-election and not cruising to an lopsided victory over Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell, Knowlegis officials said in May 2006 that the Democrat's ranking would have been somewhere in the 300s.
That's better but hardly impressive.
But if Strickland remained in Congress, his ranking would have skyrocketed this year.
Ryan's stock soared in the latest ranking.
Ryan's jumped to 179th on the latest list because Democrats now control the House and he is a member of its Appropriations Committee, probably the legislative body's most powerful committee. Ryan's district includes portions of Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
Ryan, whose district includes portions of Mahoning and Trumbull counties, is ranked fifth among Ohio's 18 House members.
Just two months into his first term in Strickland's former House seat, U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson of St. Clairsville, D-6th, is considered by the survey as the 290th most powerful member of the legislative body. His district includes all of Columbiana County and a portion of Mahoning.
Also ranked 290th in the survey is another freshman Democrat, U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire of McCandless, Pa. Altmire, D-4th, represents Lawrence County and a portion of Mercer County in Congress.
Altmire and Wilson are three spots higher than U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette of Concord, R-14th, who is serving his eighth term in the House. With Republicans out of power in the House, LaTourette, whose district includes northern Trumbull County, dropped from 85th in the May 2006 ranking to 293 in the new one.
Also taking a huge tumble is U.S. Rep. Phil English of Erie, Pa., R-3rd.
English, whose district includes a portion of Mercer County, was ranked 123rd in the May 2006 survey. He dropped to 281st on the pre-season list.
I don't think LaTourette or English are losing sleep because they, along with most Republicans, plummeted in the Knowlegis survey.
The ranking shows how easy it is to lose or gain power in Congress if your party is in the majority or the minority.
Obviously, English and LaTourette are much more familiar with how Congress works compared to Wilson and Altmire. But because they are both Republicans, English and LaTourette are bunched with a pair of House freshmen in the ranking.