Posted by Eugene Volokh:
What's a "Strong 'D'"?
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_12_14-2008_12_20.shtml#1229718244
From [1]Politico:
�We just hoped the political diversity [in President-Elect Obama's
cabinet] would have been stronger,� said Tim Carpenter, executive
director of Progressive Democrats of America. �We see a lot of
recycled Clinton folks and he gets a strong �D� on the policy side.
We hope he will hustle them to be more progressive.�
So is a strong "D" something better than an ordinary or weak D, like a
D+ (a grade that often quite perplexed me in the message that it
sent), so that Mr. Carpenter is trying to soften the blow of the D? Is
it something that the speaker strongly feels is a D? Is it something
that is strongly negative compared to a normal D, so it's a D-? I'm
pretty sure it's not a strong "D" in the sense of Sen. Barack Obama
(strong D-IL). Inquiring minds want to know.
References
1. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16734.html
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