Interesting graph linked to by Krugman that claims to quantitatively measure presidents by how far they are to the left or right based on supported legislation. I’ve made a mental note to click through later and read the methodology, as well as the scoring mechanism, because there’s quite a lot here that doesn’t sit right with me.

Off the top of my head, I’m surprised to see that Ike gets ranked way below Nixon, as Nixon (despite being generally reprehensible) had lasting impact as the sitting president for the EPA, and most of Ike’s likability by the left stems from his farewell speech more than anything he did in office. Likewise, LBJ as the most moderate Democratic president (short of Obama) seems to underweight that whole civil rights legislation thing.

No argument with the numbers that demonstrate why Obama is a disappointment on the left, though, or with the scale that shows that Republican presidents are uniformly more to the right than Democrats are to the left. But if this graph is based on legislative support, then it wouldn’t count statements made in office that never made it to the Congressional floor, which seems like a big omission.