Who’s the meanest U.S. senator?
By Amber Phillips, Las Vegas Sun
Congress can be a lot like high school.
There are the popular kids (often the lawmakers in front of TV cameras), the hanger-oners (often the lobbyists trying to befriend said lawmakers) the nerds (often the policy-wonk staffers) and the misfits (often the journalists trying to keep up with it all).
So it’s no surprise that Washington, D.C., is obsessed with rankings beyond poll numbers and money raised. There’s the 50 Most Beautiful in Congress list produced every year by Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill. Another Capitol Hill newspaper, CQ Roll Call, also annually ranks the 50 richest members of Congress.
Nevada Democrat Harry Reid tops the charts for some of the most unflattering superlatives. In the 2014 ranking that came out this week, staffers ranked the Senate majority leader as “one of the two meanest senators,” “worst speaker” and “most partisan” in the Senate.