Who Were Ron Paul’s Closest Congressional Collaborators in 2009?

Whatever else you might say about Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, the word “compliant” is unlikely to escape your lips. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Paul enraged Republicans by agreeing with Dennis Kucinich on the problems with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same time, the congressman has earned the distrust of civil libertarians on the left by acting against women’s bodily self-determination, opposing same-sex marriage equality, and trying to use the U.S. Government to promote Christianity.

Ron Paul is certainly a distinct individual in Congress, but in his differences does he draw close to anyone else? It is, after all, only working together in coalitions that members of Congress can effect substantive change. What other members of Congress are most closely allied with Ron Paul, and how closely do they collaborate?

To answer this question, I’ve tracked the legislative alliances between Ron Paul and his six closest associates in the 2009 House of Representatives and graphed them below. The strength of these alliances is measured through cosponsorship of the 4,412 House Resolutions (“H.R.” bills) introduced in 2009. Each number next to a black arrow from one representative to another indicates how many of the bills principally sponsored (that is, authored) by one representative were cosponsored (that is, formally supported) by the other. The black arrows track legislative alliances between Ron Paul and the six members of Congress with whom Paul collaborated the most as either sponsor or cosponsor. To give you an idea of the strength of connection between Paul’s collaborators, I’ve also drawn blue arrows between them when one representative has cosponsored at least two of another representative’s bills.

In his strongest relationships, Ron Paul is a leader for others, a follower of one, and an equal colleague of only one other.

Representatives Dan Burton, Roscoe Bartlett, Jeff Miller and Thad McCotter are archly conservative Republicans who have cosponsored a number of the bills introduced by Ron Paul. But their relationships with Ron Paul is not reciprocal: Paul has either cosponsored relatively few (Burton, McCotter) or none (Bartlett, Miller) of the pieces of legislation that they have introduced. Legislatively speaking, Ron Paul is a leader they follow.

Conversely, the liberal Representative John Lewis of Georgia is a surprisingly strong legislative leader for Ron Paul, who has cosponsored 7 pieces of legislation authored by Lewis. In return, Lewis has only cosponsored one piece of legislation written by Paul, making John Lewis the dominant partner of the two. This is not the only working relationship Ron Paul has with a liberal Democrat, although it is his strongest; Paul also has cosponsored a number of bills written by the moderately strong liberals Kendrick Meek and Barney Frank.

The most intense legislative relationship Ron Paul has with any of his fellow 434 House members is with Representative Walter Jones of North Carolina. It is also the most equal of these legislative relationships, with Walter Jones cosponsoring 6 of Ron Paul’s introduced bills and Ron Paul cosponsoring 5 of Walter Jones’ bills. Like Ron Paul, Walter Jones has been edging toward cross-partisan cooperation, especially since he made his regrets regarding the war in Iraq public. Jones is a frequent cosponsor of the bills of Democrat Carolyn Maloney and strong liberal Bob Filner.

Walter Jones is also the only Representative to build legislative bridges with other Ron Paul supporters, being the sponsor of at least two bills that the other four Republican supporters of Ron Paul have cosponsored. None of the other Ron Paul supporters in Congress have strongly supported one another’s bills, making the legislative circle of Ron Paul a fragmented one, connected only through Ron Paul himself and not much beyond that.