Best and worst of the Senate

Time magazine has released its take on who's good -- and not-so-good -- in the U.S. Senate. The list is non-ideological, focused only on what the lawmakers have supposedly accomplished once in office. Here's their list:

The Best

* Thad Cochran (R-MS)
* Kent Conrad (D-ND)
* Dick Durbin (D-IL)
* Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
* Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
* Carl Levin (D-MI)
* Richard Lugar (R-IN)
* John McCain (R-AZ)
* Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME)
* Arlen Specter (R-PA)

Here's how that compares to Survey USA's most recent poll (March 2006), which ranked Senators by their "net job approval" ratings:

1 Conrad, Kent (D-ND)
2 Inouye, Daniel (D-HI)
2 Collins, Susan (R-ME)
4 Nelson, Ben (D-NE)
5 Snowe, Olympia (R-ME)
6 Reed, Jack (D-RI)
6 Obama, Barack (D-IL)
6 Johnson, Tim (D-SD)
9 Leahy, Patrick (D-VT)
10 Lott, Trent (R-MS)

Either way you slice it, only a senator from Mississippi gets high marks.