The London Telegraph has been running an interesting rundown over the last several days of the Top-100 most influential liberals and conservatives in America.
There was the usual rundown of names on our side of the ideological divide, even if some popped up in surprising spots:
Former Reagan Scribe Peggy Noonan – #83
Frequent Golden Pen Recipient Thomas Sowell – #64
Justice Antonin Scalia – #62
Writer PJ O’Rourke – #60
National Review Founder William F. Buckley – #49
Former Bush Brain Karl Rove – #42
Fox News Leader Roger Ailes – #23
President Bush – #21 (How relevant is the President when he can’t crack the top 20)
Chief Justice John Roberts – #8
Talk Show Host Rush Limbaugh – #5
Web News King (Sorry Jon) – Matt Drudge – #3
Former New York Mayor Rudy G (He’s a Conservative?) – #1
I list all of these out for a reason… stick with me.
On the Lefty side, the list starts with a who’s who in Clinton-land of today and yesterday:
-Bill Clinton
-Al Gore
-Mark Penn (Hillary’s Campaign Chief)
-Hillary Herself
But scroll down to #8 and who appears? None other than our fair Governor. I don’t even think any further commentary is necessary when those across the pond are saying this.
8. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
Governor of California
Leaving him off the conservative list was a difficult decision but Schwarzenegger’s defiance of Republican orthodoxy and move towards California liberalism leaves him better placed to influence the liberal sphere. Even unstinting Schwarzenegger support of a Rudy Giuliani general election campaign in California would be unlikely to deliver the state to Republicans. His marriage to Maria Shriver took him into the Kennedy clan.
As an Austrian-born immigrant, the former body builder and action movie star is barred from the presidency, though he has not ruled out a run for the US Senate in 2010 if Barbara Boxer retires. Schwarzenegger’s actions to combat global warming have prompted an alliance with Tony Blair and is likely lead to his working more closely with Al Gore. For any Democrat entering the Oval Office, one of the first calls will be to Schwarzenegger.