Heidi Heitkamp Is Barack Obama's Valentine

The NRSC has a Valentine’s Day gag going on their website today. They mocked up the graphic below showing Democrat Senators who are up for re-election this year and the percentage of their votes that have been in line with President Barack Obama, all made to look like one of those online dating match-up sites.

It’s a pretty good gag, but missing from their rankings (probably because she’s not on the ballot this year) is Senator Heidi Heitkamp.

As I wrote earlier this month, according to a Congressional Quarterly analysis, Heitkamp would be at the top of the NRSC’s list. She voted with President Obama 97% of the time.

That after a campaign in which Heitkamp campaigned long and hard against Obama, saying during a debate with opponent Rick Berg that when she looks in the mirror she doesn’t “see a tall, African-American skinny man” looking back (audio here).

For all Heitkamp’s claims of being “independent” during the campaign, at times even seeming to shun the label “Democrat,” she’s a pretty reliable vote for President Obama’s agenda.

But we shouldn’t be surprised. Before Heitkamp was ever a US Senate candidate, she thought Obama was going to be “amazing.”