*"She is a liberal member of the Democratic Party." is an ambiguous statement.  Does it mean she is a member of the Democratic Party who is a liberal (compared to the median of the general population), or does it mean that within the Democratic Party she is a liberal (compared to median of the party)?  The latter might be difficult to maintain, since for example on foreign policy she is notably towards the hawkish end of the Democratic spectrum.  On Bush judges she is in the center (neither a member of the group-of-14 nor one of the Dems who voted against the Bush 3 even after the filibuster deal).  On big economic issues (tax cuts, Social Security) she is squarely in the Dem middle.  On small economic issues she tends to be for whatever benefits New York State.