The Top Conservatives in America

For those who know me, I am a Republican. But I am not just a Republican, I am a conservative Republican. Conservative is the key word. There are many Republicans in this country, but only a portion of them are conservative. Anyway, I came across a list last week of the 100 most influential conservative voices in America today. I found it fascinating that this list is from the UK Telegraph. I am not sure why the Brits feel the need to make this list, but I do find this list amusing, given some of the names that they put on the list.

Here is this list (along with some of my thoughts):

1. Dick Cheney
2. Rush Limbaugh
3. Matt Drudge - Internet gossip guy - Don't know about this one, but he should not be ranked this high
4. Sarah Palin
5. Robert Gates - Defense Secretary - I have no idea how he made this list
6. Glenn Beck
7. Roger Ailes
8. David Petraeus
9. Paul Ryan - Wisconsin Congressman
10. Tim Pawlenty - Minnesota Governor
11. Mitt Romey
12. George W. Bush
13. John Roberts - Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
14. Haley Barbour - Mississippi Governor and former head of the Republican Party
15. Eric Cantor - Virginia Congressman
16. John McCain - I cannot believe he is on this list, much less this high on the list. Where are his conservative credentials (in areas not associated with national defense)?
17. Mike Pence - Indiana Congressman
18. Bob McDonnell - Governor-elect of Virginia
19. Newt Gingrich - I don't think he should be this high on the list. He has strayed from true conservatism over the past couple of years.
20. Mike Huckabee - The Gomer Pyle of modern politics
21. Andrew Breitbart - Another internet news guy - He should be ranked above Drudge.
22. Bobby Jindal - Governor of Louisiana
23. Sean Hannity
24. Charles Krauthammer - Columnist and political commentator - He should be on the list, but this is too high of a ranking for him
25. David Brooks - NY Times columnist - He is the token Republican on the NY Times editorial staff. He is a Republican, not a conservative. He has no business being on this list.
26. Mark Levin - He should be rated much higher, especially after reading 2 of his books (Men in Black and Liberty and Tyranny) this past year.
27. Mitch McConnell - Senate Majority Leader
28. Laura Ingraham
29. Joe Lieberman - Conservative? Really? This is one reason the Brits are not a player on the world stage.
30. Antonin Scalia
31. John Boehner
32. Karl Rove
33. David Frum - Writer
34. Michael Steele
35. Edwin Feulner - President, Heritage Foundation
36. John Bolton - He should probably be higher up on this list
37. Tom Coburn - Oklahoma Senator
38. Rich Lowry - Editor, National Review Online
39. Mitch Daniels - Indiana Governor
40. John Thune - South Dakota Senator (and the guy who beat Tom Daschle)
41. Ron Paul - Texas Congressman - I do not believe he belongs on this list.
42. Michelle Malkin
43. George Will
44. Clarence Thomas
45. Grover Norquist - President, Americans for Tax Reform
46. Dick Morris - Strategist - I do not believe that Morris is a conservative. He is an excellent strategist with incredible insight and instincts, but not a conservative.
47. Michael Savage - This guy is an idiot.
48. Mary Matalin (the wife of James Carville, one of the most liberal idiots in the U.S.)
49. Richard Lugar - Indiana Senator - He is too friendly with liberals, including the current administration.
50. Carly Fiorina - Former head of HP and current contender for Barbara Boxer's senate seat - It is too early to tell on this one.
51. Rick Perry - Texas Governor
52. David Keene
53. Kevin McCarthy - California Congressman
54. Morton Blackwell
55. Arnold Schwarzenegger - Conservative? He threw out any and all conservatism a long time ago.
56. Alex Castellanos
57. Steve Schmidt
58. William Kristol
59. Rudy Giuliani - Conservative on national defense and fiscal areas, liberal on social issues.
60. Jon Voight - Actor
61. Jeff Flake - Arizona Congressman
62. Frank Luntz
63. Jim DeMint - South Carolina Senator
64. Chris Ruddy - Newsmax Founder and CEO
65. Erick Erickson
66. Victor Davis Hanson
67. Joe Scarborough - This guy is an insult to conservatives and Republicans. He has thrown us under the bus after joining MSNBC, and he tries to redefine conservatism in his book.
68. Paul Gigot
69. Olympia Snowe - This one is laughable. She is the most liberal Republican in the Senate. She is practically a Democrat vote.
70. Michael Barone - He has tremendous political insight. I do not think of him as a conservative, but rather a political wonk.
71. Dick Armey
72. Tucker Carlson
73. Judd Gregg - New Hampshire Senator
74. Ann Coulter
75. James Dobson
76. Jeb Bush
77. Joe Wilson - South Carolina Congressman, famous for the "You Lie!" comment (which, by the way, was right on target)
78. Meg Whitman - California gubernatorial candidate
79. Lou Dobbs - More of a populist than a conservative
80. Michelle Bachmann - Minnesota Congresswoman - She should probably be ranked higher, as she is one of the few Republicans who will actually stand up to the Democrat establishment.
81. Marco Rubio - Florida Senatorial candidate
82. Jack Keane
83. Lindsey Graham - South Carolina Senator - He has become very moderate, and he backs amnesty for illegal aliens. He should not be on this list.
84. Thomas Sowell
85. Bill O'Reilly - Like Lou Dobbs, he is a populist, not a conservative.
86. John Kasich - Ohio Gubernatorial candidate and former congressman
87. Eric Odom
88. Patriuck Ruffini
89. Fred Thompson
90. Tony Perkins
91. Peggy Noonan - She should not be on this list. Just because she was a speech writer for Reagan does not give her the credentials to be on this list.
92. Clifford May
93. Charlie Crist - Florida Governor - He is becoming too moderate in order to win Florida Governor race.
94. Jon Huntsman Jr.
95. Liz Cheney
96. R. Emmett Tyrrell
97. Mark Thiessen
98. Mike Murphy
99. Tom DeLay
100. Mark Sanford - South Carolina Governor - Really?