In order to do this analysis, I have used statistics from the ADA (Americans for Democratic Action) -- a progressive group that ranks Members of Congress on a liberal-conservative scale according to their votes, as well as stats from a mirror organization to the ADA --  the ACU (American Conservative Union) which does the exact same thing -- except from a conservative perspective.

Each year, both the ADA and the ACU pick out roughly 20-25 votes each which they believe are of primary importance to the progressive and conservative movements, respectively.   They identify their organization's position on each vote, and then look at how each Member voted in comparison.  They add up how each Member voted on each vote/issue and assign a percentage score - so, let's say , if  there's 20 votes that the ADA considers significant for 2006 and a candidate votes the same as the ADA would have on 16 of those votes, that candidate is assigned an 80% score -- pretty simple stuff.

You can look for yourself below:

http://www.adaction.org/votingrecords.ht m

http://www.acuratings.org/

Just for the record, Hillary Clinton has a 95.8 lifetime rating from the progressive ADA, and a 9.0 lifetime rating from the conservative ACU (average of 6 separate years).  

John Edwards had a 77.5 lifetime rating from the progressive ADA, and a 10.0 lifetime rating from the conservative ACU when he left the Senate (average of 6 separate years).  

To be fair (and so that we are not comparing apples to oranges), when looking at only the years in which they served together in the U.S. Senate -- 2001 through 2004 -- Hillary's ADA rating average was 95.0, while Edwards' was 72.5 (to be fair to Edwards, he did miss a good number of votes in 2003 and 2004, and the way the ADA scores, those missed votes bring down his score for those years; nevertheless, in 2002, a year in which both Hillary and Edwards did not miss a single vote, her score was 95, while Edwards scored only a 70).

The ACU (American Conservative Union) rating average for the years in which they served together in the U.S. Senate -- 2001 through 2004 -- was 9.3 for Hillary and 16.5 for Edwards.

I am not including Barack Obama in this analysis, as he has only been in the Senate for two years, AND his voting record is almost exactly the same as that of Hillary Clinton.
In 2005, both Hillary and Obama received a perfect 100% score from the progressive ADA, and in 2006 they both received 95%.  In 2005, Obama received an 8% from the ACU, while Hillary received a 12%.  In 2006, both Hillary and Obama received an 8% from the ACU.  (Looking at it another way -- over these two years, Hillary voted more conservatively than Obama by just 1 vote out of the 90 included in the analysis.)

[It should be noted that the numbers above don't mirror each other perfectly, as the actual votes of importance the ADA and ACU use are not necessarily the same ones, although there is normally some overlap.]

The actual scores above, however, are not the major purpose of this diary.  Instead, I want to look at the actual votes on which Edwards and Hillary DIFFERED during their time in the Senate together.  I have listed below all and only the votes on which they differed, in order that this analysis be purely objective without any cherry-picking of particular votes.  (I am also obviously not including any votes on which either candidate was absent, only ones where both candidates voted, yet voted differently.)

Let the record speak for itself:

* FIRST, I will list the 2001-2004 Senate votes on which Edwards took the progressive stance while Hillary took the conservative stance -- there are 4 votes:

1.) HR 2217 (Senate Vote) Allow Limited Oil and Gas Development
Landrieu (D-LA) motion to permit oil and gas development in certain areas in the Gulf of Mexico.  Passed 67-33.  July 12, 2001.

Edwards voted no.  Hillary voted yes.

2.) HR 4775 (Senate Vote) International Criminal Court
Amendment would have prohibited U.S. assistance to, or cooperation with, the International Criminal Court, except to assist or defend U.S. or allied citizens.  Passed 55-40.  June 6, 2002.

Edwards voted no.  Hillary voted yes.

3.) S 1689 Fiscal 2004 Supplemental Appropriation for Iraq and Afghanistan - Iraq's Reconstruction
Byrd (D-WV) amendment that would eliminate from the bill $15.2 billion of the $20.3 billion allocated for reconstruction of Iraq. $5.1 billion remaining could be spent immediately for public safety, national security and justice, and up to $5 billion more could be spent for Iraq's reconstruction before April 1. After April 1, the remaining $10.2 billion in reconstruction funding could be released as part of a separate appropriations bill - but only if the United Nations agrees to U.S. leadership of a multinational military force and political and economic reconstruction of Iraq, with the President providing a detailed reconstruction plan, including an estimated schedule for transferring sovereignty to the Iraqi people and withdrawing troops. Rejected 38-59. October 1, 2003.

Edwards voted yes.  Hillary voted no.

4.) S 2400 Fiscal 2005 National Defense Authorization Act - Missile Defense
Boxer (D-CA) amendment barring deployment of a national missile defense until operationally realistic testing of the system confirms that it works.  Rejected 42-57.  
June 17, 2004.

Edwards voted yes.  Hillary voted no.

* SECOND, I will list the 2001-2004 Senate votes on which Hillary took the progressive stance while Edwards took the conservative stance -- there are 11 votes (most are self-explanatory; however, on some of the votes, I have indicated in parentheses the position each candidate took in addition to the yes/no, as it is sometimes confusing to try to figure out the vote language):

1.) S 420 Bankruptcy Overhaul
Wellstone (D-MN) amendment that would allow the average of a debtor's last two months of income to be used to determine the ability to pay a threshold amount of debt.
Rejected 22-77.  March 15, 2001.

Edwards voted no.
Hillary voted yes.

2.) HR 2620 (Senate Vote) Gun Buyback Funding
Craig (R-ID) motion to kill an amendment to the Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill creating a $15 million program for HUD to buy guns from the public.
Passed 65-33.  August 2, 2001.

Edwards voted yes (Edwards voted against gun buyback).
Hillary voted no (Hillary voted for gun buyback).

3.) HR 3061 (Senate Vote) Strikes by Public Safety Employees
Daschle (D-SD) amendment to the Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill that would provide collective bargaining rights, including the right to strike, to police, firemen, and other public safety officers employed by states, counties and cities.  Rejected 56-44 (required three-fifths vote of the Senate to pass).  November 6, 2001.

Edwards voted no (Edwards voted against providing collective bargaining rights).
Hillary voted yes (Hillary voted for providing collective bargaining rights).

4.) S 1731 Farm Bill/Farm Environmental Regulation
The amendment would legislate environmental quality incentives for large cattle and dairy farms to construct animal waste treatment facilities.  Rejected 44-52.  February 6, 2002.

Edwards voted no (Edwards voted against environmental incentives).
Hillary votes yes (Hillary voted for environmental incentives).

5.) S 1731 Farm Bill/Independent Producers
Craig (R-ID) motion to kill amendment that would prevent large meatpacking enterprises from owning the animals they slaughter, a practice which gives the packers inordinate power to manipulate markets and reduces competition for livestock raised by small independent farmers and ranchers.  Rejected 46-53.  February 12, 2002.

Edwards voted yes (Edwards voted against interests of small farmers).
Hillary voted no (Hillary voted in support of interests of small farmers).

6.) S 565 Voting Rights
Reid (D-NV) amendment to provide previously convicted felons who have fully served their prison sentences the right to vote in federal elections.  Rejected 31-63.  February 14, 2002.

Edwards voted no (Edwards voted against giving persons who have FULLY served their prison sentences the right to vote).
Hillary voted yes (Hillary voted for giving persons who have FULLY served their prison sentences the right to vote).

7.) S 517 SUV Requirements
Amendment would forbid the national government from setting fuel efficiency standards for pickup trucks or sports utility vehicles at any higher than 20.7 miles per gallon.
Passed 56-44.  March 13, 2002.

Edwards voted yes (Edwards voted against higher fuel efficiency standards).
Hillary voted no (Hillary voted for higher fuel efficiency standards).

8.) HR 3009 (Senate Vote) Andean Trade Bill
Passage of the bill that would extend duty-free status to products from Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador and Peru, and renew President Bush's fast-track trade authority.  Passed 66-30.  May 23, 2002.

Edwards voted yes (Edwards voted for fast-track trade authority).
Hillary voted no (Hillary voted against fast-track trade authority).

9.) HR 4775 (Senate Vote) Budget Caps
Gregg (R-NH) motion to establish and extend for 5 years the caps on discretionary spending.  (Progressive groups were against this motion as it would, among other things, freeze spending and freeze tax law changes - in effect freeze Bush's huge tax cuts into place for 5 years).  Rejected 49-49.  June 5, 2002.

Edwards voted yes.
Hillary voted no.

10.) S J Res 34 Nuclear Waste Storage
Murkowski (R-AK) motion to approve Yucca Mountain, NV as a repository for the nation's spent nuclear and high-level radioactive waste.  Passed 60-39.  July 9, 2002.

Edwards voted yes.
Hillary voted no.

11.) HR 5005 (Senate Vote) Union Bargaining in Department of Homeland Security
Amendment would allow President Bush to exclude collective bargaining among federal employees in the new Department of Homeland Security.  Passed 73-26. November 19, 2002.

Edwards voted yes.
Hillary voted no.

To sum up, Edwards voted progressive on 4 votes on which Hillary sided with the conservative side.  It should be noted that 3 of the 4 votes were national defense related.

On the other hand, Hillary voted progressive on 11 votes on which Edwards sided with the conservative side.

In the middle of a campaign in which he is significantly behind, Edwards may insist today that he is for bankruptcy protections for the middle class, unions and collective bargaining, energy solutions and environmental protection, protecting small farmers, expanded civil and voting rights, and protectionism when it comes to trade, but when you kook at his actual voting record, he was on the wrong side on ALL of these issues, while Hillary was on the progressive side.  When it came time for the hard decisions, it was Hillary who stood up for the little guy, for unions, for the environment, for voting rights, and for fair trade that does not penalize hard-working Americans.

So when Edwards supporters insist in their claim that Edwards is the more "progressive" candidate -- with all due respect, a delusional claim -- please simply look at the voting record.