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