ABC's Barbara Walters on Time's Person of the Year: Nancy Pelosi, Michelle Obama or...The Taliban

Amanda Ernst at the Mediabistro blog Fishbowl NY covered Time's little panel discussion on who they should choose as "Person of the Year." Listen to the judgment of ABC's Barbara Walters:

Walters suggested Nancy Pelosi, Steve Jobs, Michelle Obama, Warren Buffett, Google, the Taliban, and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. But Walters also made a case of Madoff, “You put Bernie Madoff on [[the cover]...and you're going to have more discussion and more stuff and more people buzzing."

TV Newser added that during the discussion, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani discussed the influence of Roger Ailes, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck this past year. To that Gayle King said, "I'm getting ill." Fishbowl NYsummed up:

After running through lists of possible Person of the Year winners that included Bernie Madoff, Captain "Sully" Sullenberger and the Iranian protesters, the six-person panel ended the night in a three-three split. Walters agreed with TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz and Gayle King that "the guys from Twitter," meaning Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams and Biz Stone, should take the prize. Giuliani, "Top Chef" judge Tom Colicchio and Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravensthal all voted for "the economy," settling on some amalgam of Ben Bernanke and the unemployed American worker as Person of the Year.

I'd guess they'll go international or non-political this year. Walters really likes plugging Pelosi. She named her the "Most Fascinating" Person in 2006 on ABC. A few weeks later on The View, after President Bush's 2007 State of the Union address, Walters expressed how it was a "treat to see the first female Speaker of the House" as she hailed Nancy Pelosi with a hearty, fist-raised "hooray" while Rosie O'Donnell sang "I am woman, hear me roar."

We're a little surprised she didn't nominate "fascinating" and "charismatic" leftist dictator Hugo Chavez.