[JPhillips]

Vic: I know it's based on actual votes, but what I'm saying is that the methodology is flawed in that it tracks percentages without accounting for raw number of votes. If you look at Nation Journal's data Hillary actually voted the liberal position more often than Obama, but her total votes was much higher so her percentage was lower. Does this make her more or less liberal than Obama?

The other flaw in the data is that while campaigning Senators tend to be most likely to show up when the vote is the most partisan. Obama could miss a 65-35 vote, but the pressure from party leaders would intense for him to come back for a close party line vote.

This isn't to say Obama isn't a liberal, but I think his 10-15th most ranking average from the prior two years is more in line with reality.

I'd also argue that the youth of today aren't any more detached than other generations. Most people don't have any idea what the issues even are, never mind actually have a position on them.