Top 50 Pundits: Colbert Beats 'Papa Bear,' Keith
Tommy Christopher
Contributor
Posted:
05/1/08
The UK Telegraph continued its rollout of the 50 Most Infpundluential Political Pundits with numbers 20-11 today, and it 
looks like Colbert has been the beneficiary of a "Himself Bump," just edging out his friend, mentor, and microwave provider, "Papa Bear" Bill O'Reilly.
Also sure to be disappointed are fans of Keith Olbermann, who landed at #13, forming the bottom slice of bread in an O'Reilly sandwich. I, myself, predicted a #1 finish for the Special Commenter, and must now further question the judgment of my tea-sipping, croquet-playing brethren across the pond.Also sure to be disappointed are fans of Keith Olbermann, who landed at #13, forming the bottom slice of bread in an O'Reilly sandwich. I, myself, predicted a #1 finish for the Special Commenter, and must now further question the judgment of my tea-sipping, croquet-playing brethren across the pond.
Right behind "Delegate Math Whiz" Chuck Todd is my friend, Diana's fave, cranky contrarian Bill Maher. Even more politically incorrect at #16 is Glenn Beck, trailed by The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan, focus group guru Frank Luntz, CNN panelist Donna Brazile, and rounding out the 20th spot is Time's Joe Klein.
After the jump, the complete list-to-date, and the story so far.
Update: 21-30 were announced today. I haven't heard back from those I've contacted, but I'm starting to think th Telegraph's editors left their fish & chips sitting in the car for too long. Michael Savage more influential than Rachel Maddow? He may have a larger audience, but preaching to th choir is not the same thing as influence.
I do have to hand it to Pat Buchanan, despite remaining a harsh ideologue off-camera, he has been spot-on with much of his analysis on MSNBC.
Really quick predictions: Keith Olbermann will be number 1, and my longshot pick to be left off the list is Markos Moulitsas. Preaching to the choir, again.
First things first, here's the list so far:
50. RACHEL MADDOW
49. MARY MATALIN
48. PAUL KRUGMAN
47. JC WATTS
46. MARK LEVIN
45. FRED BARNES
44. JEFFREY TOOBIN
43. PAUL BEGALA
42. BILL BENNETT
41. MARK SHIELDS
40. TONY SNOW
39. DEE DEE MYERS
38. MICHAEL BARONE
37. EUGENE ROBINSON
36. NEWT GINGRICH
35. JOE TRIPPI
34. HOWARD KURTZ
33. ROLAND MARTIN
32. WILLIAM KRISTOL
31. JUAN WILLIAMS
30. PEGGY NOONAN
29. RON FOURNIER
28. JAMES CARVILLE
27. PAT BUCHANAN
26. ARIANNA HUFFINGTON
25. MICHAEL SAVAGE
24. LAURA INGRAHAM
23. MIKE ALLEN
22. DICK MORRIS
21. DAVID GERGEN 20. JOE KLEIN
19. DONNA BRAZILE
18. FRANK LUNTZ
17. ANDREW SULLIVAN
16. GLENN BECK
15. BILL MAHER
14. CHUCK TODD
13. KEITH OLBERMANN
12. BILL O'REILLY
11. STEPHEN COLBERT
Once the list is complete, I'll weigh in more thoroughly on each, but for now let me just say that some obvious omissions here are Keith Olbermann, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Cenk Uygur, and many more. The real question in my mind, though, is how cutting-edge will the Telegraph get?
Rachel Maddow at 50 is a bad sign. She's on a rocket ride to punditry super-stardom, far more influential than that standing indicates. Of course, the Telegraph is based in the UK, where they still close their stores on Sundays and haven't worked out the details of dispensing ice, so this is to be expected.
While we wait for the rest of the list, here are my questions for you:
Who would you expect to be on the list but will be left off?
Of those on the list, who is on the way up, and who's headed for Yakov Smirnov-ville?
Who are the unexpected rookies?
Check back later, and we'll discuss.
Update: I just talked to number 35 himself, Joe Trippi:
looks like Colbert has been the beneficiary of a "Himself Bump," just edging out his friend, mentor, and microwave provider, "Papa Bear" Bill O'Reilly. Also sure to be disappointed are fans of Keith Olbermann, who landed at #13, forming the bottom slice of bread in an O'Reilly sandwich. I, myself, predicted a #1 finish for the Special Commenter, and must now further question the judgment of my tea-sipping, croquet-playing brethren across the pond.Also sure to be disappointed are fans of Keith Olbermann, who landed at #13, forming the bottom slice of bread in an O'Reilly sandwich. I, myself, predicted a #1 finish for the Special Commenter, and must now further question the judgment of my tea-sipping, croquet-playing brethren across the pond.
Right behind "Delegate Math Whiz" Chuck Todd is my friend, Diana's fave, cranky contrarian Bill Maher. Even more politically incorrect at #16 is Glenn Beck, trailed by The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan, focus group guru Frank Luntz, CNN panelist Donna Brazile, and rounding out the 20th spot is Time's Joe Klein.
After the jump, the complete list-to-date, and the story so far.
Update: 21-30 were announced today. I haven't heard back from those I've contacted, but I'm starting to think th Telegraph's editors left their fish & chips sitting in the car for too long. Michael Savage more influential than Rachel Maddow? He may have a larger audience, but preaching to th choir is not the same thing as influence.
I do have to hand it to Pat Buchanan, despite remaining a harsh ideologue off-camera, he has been spot-on with much of his analysis on MSNBC.
Really quick predictions: Keith Olbermann will be number 1, and my longshot pick to be left off the list is Markos Moulitsas. Preaching to the choir, again.
First things first, here's the list so far:
50. RACHEL MADDOW
49. MARY MATALIN
48. PAUL KRUGMAN
47. JC WATTS
46. MARK LEVIN
45. FRED BARNES
44. JEFFREY TOOBIN
43. PAUL BEGALA
42. BILL BENNETT
41. MARK SHIELDS
40. TONY SNOW
39. DEE DEE MYERS
38. MICHAEL BARONE
37. EUGENE ROBINSON
36. NEWT GINGRICH
35. JOE TRIPPI
34. HOWARD KURTZ
33. ROLAND MARTIN
32. WILLIAM KRISTOL
31. JUAN WILLIAMS
30. PEGGY NOONAN
29. RON FOURNIER
28. JAMES CARVILLE
27. PAT BUCHANAN
26. ARIANNA HUFFINGTON
25. MICHAEL SAVAGE
24. LAURA INGRAHAM
23. MIKE ALLEN
22. DICK MORRIS
21. DAVID GERGEN 20. JOE KLEIN
19. DONNA BRAZILE
18. FRANK LUNTZ
17. ANDREW SULLIVAN
16. GLENN BECK
15. BILL MAHER
14. CHUCK TODD
13. KEITH OLBERMANN
12. BILL O'REILLY
11. STEPHEN COLBERT
Once the list is complete, I'll weigh in more thoroughly on each, but for now let me just say that some obvious omissions here are Keith Olbermann, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Cenk Uygur, and many more. The real question in my mind, though, is how cutting-edge will the Telegraph get?
Rachel Maddow at 50 is a bad sign. She's on a rocket ride to punditry super-stardom, far more influential than that standing indicates. Of course, the Telegraph is based in the UK, where they still close their stores on Sundays and haven't worked out the details of dispensing ice, so this is to be expected.
While we wait for the rest of the list, here are my questions for you:
Who would you expect to be on the list but will be left off?
Of those on the list, who is on the way up, and who's headed for Yakov Smirnov-ville?
Who are the unexpected rookies?
Check back later, and we'll discuss.
Update: I just talked to number 35 himself, Joe Trippi:
Tommy Christopher: Joe, I wanted to see what you thought about being named to the UK Telegraph's 50 Most Influential Pundits list.Update: I caught up with Rachel Maddow this morning. Click Here for her reactions
Joe Trippi: What? When did that come out?
Tommy Christopher: They're rolling the list out today, they're up to number 31. You're number 35. What do you think?
Joe Trippi: That's very flattering...but...I don't know what that means.
Tommy Christopher: (laughs) Well, you're more influential than Newt Gingrich.
Joe Trippi: (laughs) That's good!
Tommy Christopher: So, how do you feel about that?
Joe Trippi: Well. Anything I've done, that I can do, to help get young people involved in politics makes me feel good.