The British Telegraph has announced top 100 lists of most influential US conservatives and "liberals".
Quite clearly, characterizations in the list clearly follow the media consensus imposed by the conservative side. Just to take a couple of examples, Rush Limbaugh is no wacko but a "national phenomenon" in the top 5 of the list, while Chris Matthews is an "epitome of a biassed liberal journalist" just for an increasingly strident critic of the Bush administration,
The point of this diary, however, is not analysis of the particular rankings or characterizations. What I found interesting is to divide the influential names into categories (politicians, strategists, activists...) in both lists, and compare the lists in each category. There are very instructive differences in list length and character in each category comparison - just follow me below the fold!
Of course, my partition into categories is not unquestionable. You can make corrections for your own impression, if you wish. But subjectivities of Telegraaph's ranking and my categorization do not hide some pretty clear trends.
Here we go:
| POLITICIANS |
| 1. RUDY GIULIANI | | 1. BILL CLINTON |
| | 2. AL GORE |
| 4. NEWT GINGRICH | | 4. HILLARY CLINTON |
| | 5. NANCY PELOSI |
| 6. DICK CHENEY | | 6. BARACK OBAMA |
| 9. JOHN MCCAIN | | 10. EVAN BAYH |
| 10. MITT ROMNEY | | 13. RAHM EMANUEL |
| 11. MIKE HUCKABEE | | 14. JIM WEBB |
| 16. HALEY BARBOUR | | 22. MARK WARNER |
| 19. MIKE PENCE | | 24. JOHN EDWARDS |
| 21. GEORGE W. BUSH | | 26. HENRY WAXMAN |
| | 27. BILL RICHARDSON |
| | 28. CHUCK SCHUMER |
| 35. TOM DELAY | | 30. JOE BIDEN |
| | 31. BARNEY FRANK |
| | 32. ROBERT BYRD |
| 43. TOM COBURN | | 33. HARRY REID |
| | 37. JOHN KERRY |
| 45. RICK SANTORUM | | 45. JOHN DINGELL |
| | 50. STENY HOYER |
| | 52. ELIOT SPITZER |
| 54. FRED THOMPSON | | 54. KEITH ELLISON |
| | 55. RALPH NADER |
| 61. BOBBY JINDAL | | 56. JAMES CLYBURN |
| | 57. CORY BOOKER |
| 80. PAT BUCHANAN | | 65. JOHN MURTHA |
| | 69. TOM DASCHLE |
| 86. JEB BUSH | | 71. DEVAL PATRICK |
| | 72. JIMMY CARTER |
| 89. LARRY CRAIG | | 76. JOE SESTAK |
| | 79. GEORGE MCGOVERN |
| 91. MARK SANFORD | | 85. TED KENNEDY |
| | 89. ARTUR DAVIS |
| 96. RON PAUL | | 92. DICK DURBIN |
| | 96. JANE HARMAN |
There are almost twice as many influential politicians in the liberal list than in the conservative list: 35 against 19. What does this mean?
Do conservatives have much more support "from behind the curtains"?
If so many Democratic bright stars are in the Congress, why are they so ineffective?
| STATESMEN |
| 7. ROBERT GATES | | 18. RICHARD HOLBROOKE |
| 8. JOHN ROBERTS (SCOTUS) |
| 12. CONDOLEEZZA RICE |
| 13. JOHN BOLTON |
| 29. ALAN GREENSPAN | | 42. MADELEINE ALBRIGHT |
| 62. ANTONIN SCALIA (SCOTUS) |
| 66. JAMES BAKER |
| 75. MICHAEL CHERTOFF | | 64. JOHN PAUL STEVENS (SCOTUS) |
| 78. BRENT SCOWCROFT |
| 85. CLARENCE THOMAS (SCOTUS) |
| 88. TED OLSON |
| 95. HENRY KISSINGER |
| MILITARY |
| 2. DAVID PETRAEUS | | 43. WESLEY CLARK |
| 55. JACK KEANE |
| 98. ERIK PRINCE (Blackwater) | | 58. JOHN ABIZAID |
| 100. PETER PACE |
Republican functionaries stay much more influential, apparently.
Military expertise is not much unbalanced, if we include contributions from the other sections.
| STRATEGISTS |
| 17. FRANK LUNTZ | | 3. MARK PENN (Clinton) |
| 20. ED GILLESPIE | | 17. DONNA BRAZILE |
| 28. DICK MORRIS | | 34. HAROLD ICKES (Clinton) |
| 32. BILL SIMON (Giuliani) | | 39. JOE TRIPPI (Edwards) |
| 36. MARY MATALIN (Thompson) | | 40. BETH DOZORETZ |
| | 41. TERRY MCAULIFFE |
| 42. KARL ROVE | | 46. DAVID PLOUFFE (Obama) |
| | 51. BRUCE REED (DLC) |
| 50. ALEX CASTELLANOS (Romney) | | 66. HOWARD WOLFSON (Clinton) |
| | 68. DAVID AXELROD (Obama) |
| 74. DAVID WINSTON | | 73. LEON PANETTA |
| | 74. JAMES CARVILLE |
| 79. TONY CARBONETTI (Giuliani) | | 75. STAN GREENBERG (Dodd) |
| 83. PEGGY NOONAN | | 84. HOWARD DEAN |
| 87. MICHAEL BARONE | | 91. PATTI SOLIS DOYLE (Clinton) |
| | 93. BOB SHRUM |
| 99. WILLIAM MCGURN | | 95. HAROLD FORD (DLC) |
| | 99. CELINDA LAKE (Bidden) |
| IDEOLOGISTS |
| 22. CHRISTOPHER DEMUTH (AEI) | | 11. JOHN PODESTA (C.A.P) |
| 24. GROVER NORQUIST |
| 25. R. EMMETT TYRRELL JR |
| 37. FREDERICK KAGAN (AEI) | | 35. GENE SPERLING (C.A.P.) |
| 41. EDWIN FEULNER (Heritage) |
| 48. WILLIAM KRISTOL |
| 49. WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY | | 60. MICHAEL O’HANLON (Brookings) |
| 57. NORMAN PODHORETZ |
| 64. THOMAS SOWELL (Hoover) | | 63. NOAM CHOMSKY |
| 68. IRWIN STELZER (Hudson) |
| 72. MICHAEL RUBIN (AEI) | | 78. ROBERT BOROSAGE (Am. Future) |
| 73. JOHN O’SULLIVAN (Hudson) |
| 76. TONY BLANKLEY (Heritage) |
| 77. CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER | | 97. STROBE TALBOTT (Brookings) |
| 90. REUEL MARC GERECHT (AEI) |
| 94. CLIFFORD MAY (Def. Dem.) |
Influential Democrats like to be strategists, as we see.
Ideology support for Conservatives is really impressive.
| THE MEDIA |
| 3. MATT DRUDGE | | 9. OPRAH WINFREY |
| 5. RUSH LIMBAUGH |
| 14. PAUL GIGOT (WSJ) |
| 15. LAURA INGRAHAM | | 36. MAUREEN DOWD |
| 18. GLENN BECK |
| 23. ROGER AILES (Foxnews) | | 38. CHRIS MATTHEWS |
| 31. MARK LEVIN |
| 44. SEAN HANNITY | | 49. AL FRANKEN |
| 46. ROBERT NOVAK |
| 52. BRIT HUME | | 53. PAUL KRUGMAN |
| 56. GEORGE WILL |
| 63. MICHAEL SAVAGE | | 61. STEPHEN COLBERT |
| 67. DAVID BROOKS | | 67. KEITH OLBERMANN |
| 82. BILL O’REILLY |
| 84. ANN COULTER | | 81. JON STEWART |
| 92. OLIVER NORTH |
Can you see a liberal media bias here, please? What, angry talking heads against comedians?..
Did you thank Dowd and Matthews for trashing Gore and Kerry when it mattered?
| BLOGGERS, WRITERS |
| 27. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS | | 12. MARKOS MOULITSAS ZUNIGA |
| 33. ANDREW SULLIVAN | | 16. ARIANNA HUFFINGTON |
| 40. DAVID FRUM (NRO) |
| 53. RICH LOWRY (NRO) | | 59. JAMES PETRAS |
| 58. VICTOR DAVIS HANSON |
| 60. P J O’ROURKE | | 62. JEROME ARMSTRONG |
| 69. ERICK ERIKSON (redstate) | | 94. DAVID BROCK (Media Matters) |
| 93. MICHELLE MALKIN | | 100. ROBERT GREENWALD |
| 97. CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY |
| ACTIVISTS |
| 34. DAVID HOROWITZ | | 7. MICHAEL MOORE |
| | 20. J. BLADES & W. BOYD (MoveOn) |
| 39. DREW CAREY | | 70. AARON SORKIN |
| | 77. BARBRA STREISAND |
| 71. CHUCK NORRIS | | 82. GEORGE CLOONEY |
| | 90. DAVID GEFFEN |
| | 98. CINDY SHEEHAN |
Which writers and activists get more supportive attention from the media? How do they earn money?
Of course, great recognition of Daily Kos (No 12)!
Who is interested who is most influential to us?
| PRESSURE GROUPS |
| 26. JAMES DOBSON (Rel.) | | 44. JESSE JACKSON (Rel.) |
| 30. WAYNE LAPIERRE (NRA) | | 80. MEDEA BENJAMIN (Code Pink) |
| 38. JACK ABRAMOFF | | 83. JULIAN BOND (Race eq.) |
| 65. RICHARD LAND (Rel.) | | 86. DEBBIE DINGELL |
| 70. GARY BAUER (Rel.) | | 87. ELLEN MALCOLM (Emily's List) |
| 81. TONY PERKINS (Rel.) | | 88. AL SHARPTON (Rel.) |
| BUSINESSMEN, DONNORS |
| 51. CHARLES & SAM WYLY | | 15. GEORGE SOROS |
| | 21. WARREN BUFFETT |
| | 29. VERNON JORDAN |
Is Jack Abramoff still influential? (Yeah, so is Tom Delay!)
Religion-related influence (Rel.) has very different qualities on both sides.
The influence of Republican donors ends with their contributions. They want not that much, probably.
| QUESTIONABLE |
| 47. JOE LIEBERMAN | | 8. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER |
| | 23. COLIN POWELL |
| | 25. MICHAEL BLOOMBERG |
| | 47. JOE LIEBERMAN |
| FAMILY |
| 59. LAURA BUSH | | 19. ELIZABETH EDWARDS |
| | 48. MICHELLE OBAMA |
They put Liebermann on both lists, which is not too strange. But assigning Arnold, Powell and Bloomberg to liberals is a silent opinion of right-wingers only.
Do you notice anything more interesting?
