My article on Monday: “The list of UK politicians most likely to be making up facts.” was pretty popular, which was nice. It was actually popular enough that I decided to repeat the process, except instead of using UK MPs I’ve used members of the US senate. I’m publishing the results in full here.
For those new to the post – I’ve writen some code that fetches a Twitter account’s recent tweets, strips out the retweets and also anything that doesn’t contain a number. I then compare the number of times the account tweets a number without a link. I’m NOT interested in who is right on any given issue, I’m interested in raising the level of the debate a little bit. I’m aware there are some weaknesses in the methodology and I discus them in this post.
Before I give the table, a couple of things surprised me. One was that US senators are, despite their reputation for partisan bickering as much much more likely to cite sources than the UK MPs. I had 15 MPs who hadn’t cited a single figure in the data on Monday. Today I have none. Plus the averages are a lot higher – all but two Senators cite more often than a full half of UK MPs. From a quick perusal it appears likely that this is due to US Senators being much more likely to have a dedicated press office, but that’s a bit of a wild guess.
In any case, here is the full list of US senators and how likely they are to reference figures they tweet about:
Rank | Twitter ID | Name | Tweets in Sample | Tweets with numbers | Tweets with numbers and links | Ratio |
1 | @SenShelby | Richard Shelby | 228 | 21 | 20 | 95% |
2 | @TomCoburn | Sen. Tom Coburn M.D. | 752 | 101 | 96 | 95% |
3 | @Mike_Johanns | Senator Mike Johanns | 575 | 40 | 38 | 95% |
4 | @SenThadCochran | Senator Thad Cochran | 797 | 78 | 72 | 92% |
5 | @SenJohnMcCain | John McCain | 800 | 52 | 48 | 92% |
6 | @SenTedCruz | Senator Ted Cruz | 838 | 57 | 52 | 91% |
7 | @SenatorSessions | Sen. Jeff Sessions | 768 | 34 | 31 | 91% |
8 | @SenStabenow | Sen. Debbie Stabenow | 790 | 44 | 40 | 91% |
9 | @TomUdallPress | Tom Udall Press | 191 | 54 | 45 | 83% |
10 | @SenatorBaldwin | Sen. Tammy Baldwin | 766 | 88 | 73 | 83% |
11 | @SenAlexander | Sen. Lamar Alexander | 657 | 86 | 71 | 83% |
12 | @SenBlumenthal | Richard Blumenthal | 551 | 40 | 33 | 83% |
13 | @MarkWarner | Mark Warner | 477 | 38 | 31 | 82% |
14 | @SenDonnelly | Senator Joe Donnelly | 789 | 92 | 75 | 82% |
15 | @MarkeyMemo | Ed Markey | 711 | 60 | 48 | 80% |
16 | @SenatorEnzi | Mike Enzi | 834 | 90 | 71 | 79% |
17 | @JohnBoozman | Senator John Boozman | 865 | 71 | 56 | 79% |
18 | @SenatorCollins | SenatorSusanCollins | 660 | 27 | 21 | 78% |
19 | @JerryMoran | Jerry Moran | 724 | 88 | 67 | 76% |
20 | @SenDanCoats | Senator Dan Coats | 610 | 29 | 22 | 76% |
21 | @SenatorHarkin | Tom Harkin | 780 | 95 | 72 | 76% |
22 | @SenatorKirk | Mark Kirk | 747 | 115 | 87 | 76% |
23 | @SenMikeLee | Mike Lee | 749 | 44 | 33 | 75% |
24 | @SenOrrinHatch | Senator Hatch Office | 871 | 106 | 79 | 75% |
25 | @SenToomey | Senator Pat Toomey | 806 | 80 | 59 | 74% |
26 | @lisamurkowski | Sen. Lisa Murkowski | 824 | 80 | 59 | 74% |
27 | @SenBobCorker | Senator Bob Corker | 825 | 38 | 28 | 74% |
28 | @SenJohnThune | Senator John Thune | 849 | 60 | 44 | 73% |
29 | @SenSanders | Bernie Sanders | 857 | 37 | 27 | 73% |
30 | @Sen_JoeManchin | Senator Joe Manchin | 784 | 166 | 120 | 72% |
31 | @MikeCrapo | Senator Mike Crapo | 790 | 41 | 29 | 71% |
32 | @MarkUdall | Mark Udall | 840 | 61 | 43 | 70% |
33 | @SenAngusKing | Senator Angus King | 806 | 60 | 42 | 70% |
34 | @SenatorFischer | Senator Deb Fischer | 839 | 79 | 55 | 70% |
35 | @SenJohnBarrasso | Sen. John Barrasso | 607 | 92 | 64 | 70% |
36 | @SenJohnHoeven | Senator John Hoeven | 742 | 55 | 38 | 69% |
37 | @SenDeanHeller | Dean Heller | 670 | 44 | 30 | 68% |
38 | @maziehirono | Senator Mazie Hirono | 694 | 69 | 47 | 68% |
39 | @McConnellPress | Sen. McConnell Press | 703 | 25 | 17 | 68% |
40 | @PattyMurray | Senator Patty Murray | 424 | 40 | 27 | 68% |
41 | @SenFeinstein | Sen Dianne Feinstein | 844 | 92 | 62 | 67% |
42 | @SenRonJohnson | Senator Ron Johnson | 785 | 46 | 31 | 67% |
43 | @CantwellPress | Sen. Maria Cantwell | 802 | 72 | 48 | 67% |
44 | @senrobportman | Rob Portman | 891 | 74 | 49 | 66% |
45 | @RoyBlunt | Senator Roy Blunt | 774 | 50 | 33 | 66% |
46 | @JohnCornyn | JohnCornyn | 534 | 58 | 38 | 66% |
47 | @ChrisCoons | Senator Chris Coons | 744 | 55 | 36 | 65% |
48 | @SenatorBurr | Richard Burr | 835 | 81 | 53 | 65% |
49 | @SenatorTomUdall | Tom Udall | 866 | 435 | 284 | 65% |
50 | @SenatorIsakson | Johnny Isakson | 689 | 72 | 47 | 65% |
51 | @SenBennetCO | Michael Bennet | 744 | 80 | 52 | 65% |
52 | @SenSherrodBrown | Sherrod Brown | 874 | 97 | 63 | 65% |
53 | @SenatorTimScott | Tim Scott | 747 | 56 | 35 | 63% |
54 | @RonWyden | Ron Wyden | 796 | 50 | 31 | 62% |
55 | @SenGillibrand | Kirsten Gillibrand | 784 | 62 | 38 | 61% |
56 | @SenRandPaul | Senator Rand Paul | 696 | 31 | 19 | 61% |
57 | @SenCarlLevin | Senator Carl Levin | 690 | 54 | 33 | 61% |
58 | @SenatorWicker | Senator Roger Wicker | 837 | 64 | 39 | 61% |
59 | @SenPatRoberts | Pat Roberts | 720 | 74 | 45 | 61% |
60 | @SenatorMenendez | Sen. Robert Menendez | 828 | 61 | 37 | 61% |
61 | @SenJackReed | Senator Jack Reed | 787 | 98 | 59 | 60% |
62 | @KellyAyotte | Kelly Ayotte | 763 | 70 | 42 | 60% |
63 | @SaxbyChambliss | Saxby Chambliss | 723 | 66 | 39 | 59% |
64 | @SenJohnsonSD | Senator Tim Johnson | 809 | 84 | 49 | 58% |
65 | @SenatorCardin | Senator Ben Cardin | 639 | 33 | 19 | 58% |
66 | @SenWhitehouse | Sheldon Whitehouse | 812 | 56 | 32 | 57% |
67 | @SenMarkPryor | Senator Mark Pryor | 695 | 95 | 53 | 56% |
68 | @JeffFlake | Jeff Flake | 839 | 52 | 29 | 56% |
69 | @timkaine | Senator Tim Kaine | 804 | 59 | 32 | 54% |
70 | @InhofePress | Inhofe Press Office | 783 | 85 | 46 | 54% |
71 | @SenatorCarper | Senator Tom Carper | 784 | 138 | 73 | 53% |
72 | @SenatorLeahy | Sen. Patrick Leahy | 591 | 53 | 28 | 53% |
73 | @SenatorBoxer | Sen. Barbara Boxer | 744 | 103 | 54 | 52% |
74 | @SenLandrieu | Senator Landrieu | 787 | 90 | 47 | 52% |
75 | @SenadorReid | Senador Harry Reid | 423 | 54 | 28 | 52% |
76 | @SenBillNelson | Bill Nelson | 472 | 45 | 23 | 51% |
77 | @SenBobCasey | Senator Bob Casey | 723 | 67 | 34 | 51% |
78 | @MartinHeinrich | Martin Heinrich | 838 | 46 | 23 | 50% |
79 | @SenBrianSchatz | Senator Brian Schatz | 131 | 6 | 3 | 50% |
80 | @SenatorBarb | Barbara Mikulski | 797 | 71 | 34 | 48% |
81 | @SenWalshOffice | Sen. Walsh’s Office | 172 | 15 | 7 | 47% |
82 | @SenatorBegich | Senator Mark Begich | 849 | 95 | 44 | 46% |
83 | @ChrisMurphyCT | Chris Murphy | 726 | 84 | 38 | 45% |
84 | @DavidVitter | David Vitter | 746 | 51 | 23 | 45% |
85 | @SenRockefeller | Jay Rockefeller | 891 | 80 | 33 | 41% |
86 | @SenJeffMerkley | Senator Jeff Merkley | 806 | 49 | 20 | 41% |
87 | @marcorubio | Marco Rubio | 892 | 103 | 42 | 41% |
88 | @SenatorDurbin | Senator Dick Durbin | 845 | 80 | 30 | 38% |
89 | @SenSchumer | Chuck Schumer | 768 | 107 | 40 | 37% |
90 | @GrahamBlog | Lindsey Graham | 797 | 51 | 19 | 37% |
91 | @SenatorRisch | Senator Jim Risch | 279 | 30 | 11 | 37% |
92 | @SenatorReid | Senator Harry Reid | 645 | 42 | 15 | 36% |
93 | @amyklobuchar | Amy Klobuchar | 737 | 150 | 52 | 35% |
94 | @clairecmc | Claire McCaskill | 855 | 70 | 24 | 34% |
95 | @SenatorHagan | Senator Kay Hagan | 882 | 140 | 45 | 32% |
96 | @CoryBooker | Cory Booker | 790 | 81 | 10 | 12% |
97 | @SenWarren | Elizabeth Warren | 257 | 11 | 1 | 9% |
98 | @ChuckGrassley | ChuckGrassley | 897 | 281 | 6 | 2% |
I should say, in defence of Senator Grassley, he has a lot of Tweets of this form:
UNI volleyball is serious 4me but to those of u who vomit abt those tweets here r FACTS:income inequality Read WStJ 11/12 Gramm/Solon oped
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) November 15, 2014
where he shortens things like ‘for’ into ‘4’ and a very large number of tweets that appear to be reporting volleyball scores, which take down his average somewhat… still the odd link would be useful to see from him.