IAVA assessment of the senate

[Skunks]

IAVA, the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America (wiki) (from the horse's mouth) has compared the voting record of senators with their own opinions, and published grades.

my source (the grades, and an explanation

chart showing the grades, states, and parties of all senators.

No Senator in either party was given an A grade by IAVA. Thirteen Senators received a rating of A- and all of those were Democrats. A total of 23 Senators were given a B+ rating and 22 of those were Democrats as well. The other was Independent James Jeffords of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats.

Cutting to the chase -- and, perhaps more than anything I've seen in recent years, truly defining the difference between the two parties -- is that the worst grade received by a Senate Democrat was higher than the best grade granted a Republican. GOP-lite Ben Nelson (D-NE) received the lowest grade of any Democrat with a B- while Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) managed a C grade from IAVA.

I am curious, but too determined to go to bed, if this is simply a question of IAVA themselves being partisan, or having distinctly partisan opinions.