Former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman passed away due to a fall. He was the chair of the “No Labels” Party. Many in the media have described Lieberman as a centrist. There certainly is a lot of rhetoric that seems to support such an argument. But there’s another way to evaluate that. We could also look at Lieberman’s voting record, as rated by a series of interest groups.

In this analysis, I look at whether or not the politician in question uses centrist language. Additionally, I analyzed how others in the media described this particular politician, by ideology. Then, I will examine the voting record of the political figure in question, as rated by interest groups on a number of issues. This will help us determine whether or not the rhetoric matches the reality.

John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in Georgia. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu. His Twitter account is @JohnTures2.