Dennis Moore is 9th most valuable Democrat

The Democrats will lose a prize member of the party when retiring Kansas Congressman Dennis Moore casts his final vote.

Nate Silver, who writes about politics at the Web site Five Thirty Eight, recently set out to determine the Democratic Party’s most valuable member of Congress. Silver is a creative thinker, so he disregarded titles and fund-raising abilities. Instead, he looked for representatives who voted left on key issues (stimulus, health care) while their districts tend to think (and vote) Republican.

Silver determined that Bart Gordon of Tennessee was the Democrats’ Joe Mauer. Gordon voted for the stimulus, cap-and-trade and the Fair Pay Act. His district (which covers north central Tennessee) is solidly Republican.

Moore placed ninth on Silver’s MVP ballot. Moore voted with his party on all of the initiatives that Silver considered important. His district leans Republican.