Journal tags Hill 'centrist'

Some of Baron Hill's Republican opponents and their supporters often call the Seymour Democrat a liberal.

Some have called him worse.

But the National Journal, a nonpartisan magazine that reports on Washington, D.C., calls him a centrist. That's based on the magazine's ranking of 2007 congressional voting records.

The rankings placed Hill as the third-most moderate Democratic congressional representative, behind Tim Mahony of Florida and Henry Cuellar of Texas.

Hill, who is seeking re-election this year and faces three opponents in the Democratic primary May 6, has long fought opponents' assertions that he's a liberal.

"I'm a centrist," Hill said over the weekend, returning home to the district. "I'm not an ideologue. Centrists are problem solvers, and you don't solve problems by working at one extreme or the other. The only way you can do that is by reaching out."

Hill said he's proud of the moderate votes he's cast, including those on fuel standards that he said were far less than what liberals called for and than conservatives wanted. He also pointed to a vote last week in which he broke with the Democratic leadership on the budget bill.

"I voted just Thursday against the budget bill because it was spending too much and relying on Social Security to fund it," Hill said. "That's not a liberal vote. That's a centrist vote."

According to a story in the March 8 edition of the National Journal, Hill's voting record was the 213th most liberal among House representatives and the 217th most conservative. That's pretty close to the center, although not all representatives were ranked because some missed too many votes.

Former Republican Rep. Mike Sodrel, Hill's opponent in the last three elections - and likely a fourth this fall - was ranked the 418th most liberal and the 11th most conservative, based on his 2006 voting record.

Questioned whether his centrist record or Sodrel's conservative record is more in tune with 9th District voters, Hill said his profile best hits the mark and used abortion as an example.

"Mike Sodrel's record doesn't fit the district at all," Hill said. "They want someone who's a moderate. They don't want someone on either extreme, even on social issues.

"On abortion, I think parents should have the right to know their children are going to have an abortion, and I don't think federal money should be used to fund abortions. That's a moderate view.

"I don't agree with the liberal extreme view that says parents don't have the right to know and that would spend federal money on abortions," Hill said. "And I don't believe in the conservative extreme view that there shouldn't be abortion, period."

Sodrel is unopposed in the Republican primary in his attempt to return to Congress. In head-to-head races, Hill holds a 2-1 margin over Sodrel, defeating him in 2002 and 2006 and losing in 2004.

Hill's Democratic opponents this spring are John R. Bottorff of Jasper, Gretchen Clearwater of Bloomington and Lendall B. Terry of Versailles. He defeated Clearwater and Terry in the 2006 primary.

Libertarian Eric Schansberg is also expected to run in the general election.