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Why isn’t just voting Democrat enough? Recent history is littered with legislative answers to that question.

We already have an index of legislative action for the U.S. Senate in the 110th Congress that looks at senatorial cosponsorships along with votes on important issues during the ten months of the current Congress. But there are some votes that are crucial, stretching out across longer periods of time and involving Senators who are still around with us on the national scene. With that in mind, I’ve come up with a list of what I call “unforgivable votes”: votes that no progressive should have taken. I assume that Republicans are unforgivable, although as you’ll see below occasionally one or two will temporarily redeem themselves on single issues. But to the extent that the Democratic Party wishes to refer to itself as a progressive party, these are votes that no Democrat should have taken. Click on the links below to find the roll-call votes themselves, along with links to the associated bills in case you’d like to read them for yourself.

1. Vote to Authorize War in Iraq, October 11 2002, 12:50 AM

Republicans: 48 Yes, 1 No
Democrats: 29 Yes, 21 No

Democratic Senators still in the Senate who voted unforgivably: Max Baucus, Evan Bayh, Joseph Biden, Maria Cantwell, Thomas Carper, Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, Byron Dorgan, Dianne Feinstein, Tom Harkin, Tim Johnson, John Kerry, Herb Kohl, Mary Landrieu, Joseph Lieberman, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Harry Reid, Jay Rockefeller, Charles Schumer

2. Cloture Vote on Bankruptcy Evisceration Bill, March 8 2005, 2:16 PM

Republicans: 56 Yes, 0 No
Democrats: 13 Yes, 30 No

Democratic Senators still in the Senate who voted unforgivably: Joseph Biden, Robert Byrd, Thomas Carper, Kent Conrad, Tim Johnson, Herb Kohl, Mary Landrieu, Joseph Lieberman, Blanche Lincoln, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Mark Pryor, Ken Salazar, Debbie Stabenow

3. Vote to Confirm Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, September 29 2005, 11:31 AM

Republicans: 55 Yes, 0 No
Democrats: 22 Yes, 22 No

Democratic Senators still in the Senate who voted unforgivably: Max Baucus, Jeff Bingaman, Robert Byrd, Thomas Carper, Kent Conrad, Christopher Dodd, Byron Dorgan, Russell Feingold, Tim Johnson, Mary Landrieu, Patrick Leahy, Joseph Lieberman, Blanche Lincoln, Patty Murray, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Mark Pryor, Jay Rockefeller, Ken Salazar, Ron Wyden

4. Vote to Confirm Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, January 31 2006, 11:01 AM

Republicans: 54 Yes, 1 No
Democrats: 4 Yes, 41 No

Democratic Senators still in the Senate who voted unforgivably: Robert Byrd, Kent Conrad, Tim Johnson, Ben Nelson

5. Military Commissions Act, September 28 2006, 6:37 PM

Republicans: 54 Yes, 1 No
Democrats: 11 Yes, 32 No

Democratic Senators still in the Senate who voted unforgivably: Thomas Carper, Tim Johnson, Mary Landrieu, Frank Lautenberg, Joseph Lieberman, Robert Menendez, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Jay Rockefeller, Ken Salazar, Debbie Stabenow

6. Protect America Act, August 3 2007, 9:37 PM

Republicans: 44 Yes, 0 No
Democrats: 16 Yes, 28 No

Democratic Senators who voted unforgivably: Evan Bayh, Thomas Carper, Robert Casey, Kent Conrad, Dianne Feinstein, Daniel Inouye, Amy Klobuchar, Mary Landrieu, Joseph Lieberman, Blanche Lincoln, Claire McCaskill, Barbara Mikulski, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Mark Pryor, Ken Salazar, Jim Webb

7. Confirmation of Michael Mukasey as Attorney General, November 8 2007, 11:04 PM

Republicans: 46 Yes, 0 No
Democrats: 7 Yes, 40 No

Democratic Senators who voted unforgivably: Evan Bayh, Thomas Carper, Dianne Feinstein, Mary Landrieu, Joseph Lieberman, Ben Nelson, Charles Schumer

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Even the best political figure can do something unforgivable once in a while, and while we won’t forgive the act let’s, shall we say, forget for the moment those who have engaged in an unforgivable vote. But we remind those Senators — Jeff Bingaman, Maria Cantwell, Robert Casey, Hillary Clinton, Russell Feingold, Tom Harkin, Daniel Inouye, Amy Klobuchar, John Kerry, Frank Lautenberg, Patrick Leahy, Robert Menendez, Patty Murray, Harry Reid, Claire McCaskill, Barbara Mikulski, Ron Wyden and Jim Webb — that we’re watching.

More disturbing are those Senators with a pattern of inexcusable, unforgivable voting. They are, in ascending order of number and descending order of respectability, as follows:

Two Unforgivable Votes
Max Baucus, Joseph Biden, Christopher Dodd, Byron Dorgan, Herb Kohl, Charles Schumer and Debbie Stabenow

Three Unforgivable Votes
Evan Bayh, Robert Byrd, Dianne Feinstein, Blanche Lincoln, Mark Pryor, Jay Rockefeller

Four Unforgivable Votes
Kent Conrad, Ken Salazar

Five Unforgivable Votes
Tim Johnson, Bill Nelson

Six Unforgivable Votes
Thomas Carper, Mary Landrieu, Joseph Lieberman

Seven Unforgivable Votes
Ben Nelson

The embarrassingly numerous Senators with two or three unforgivable votes should apologize openly for their votes every time they try to use the word “progressive.” Their conduct should be regularly questioned and challenged. The platform of any primary challengers to them should be examined; if a challenger’s platform is preferable, why not support the challenger?

It is a priority for primary challengers to Senators Kent Conrad, Ken Salazar, Tim Johnson, Bill Nelson to be identified, nurtured and supported. We’ll be on the lookout for these. Conrad, Salazar, Johnson and Nelson have not just strayed from the progressive path — they’ve abandoned it.

And about Thomas Carper, Mary Landrieu, Joseph Lieberman, and Ben Nelson, let’s be real — these individuals might as well switch their party allegiances formally and get it over with. They’re Republicans through and through with their authoritarianism, their disdain for liberty and their lack of compassion for the vulnerable. The sooner they go ahead and switch parties, the sooner real progressives can be identified to run against them.

You want to ask why “the Democrats always give in”? Don’t just ask “the Democrats.” Ask the Democrats with two or three unforgivable votes. They’re a big part of the problem, and they need to be whipped back in line or whipped out of office. But the really big problem is a set of eight senators — Carper, Conrad, Johnson, Landrieu, Lieberman, Nelson, Nelson and Salazar. Over and over (and over and over and over and over and over) they have taken a path antithetical to progressivism. They’ve had their chances to see the light. They’ve failed to do so. They don’t deserve a dollar of your support. They deserve robust primary competition. They need to be drummed out of office.