'Time 100' Poll Has About Four Times as Many Liberals and Leftists as Conservatives

Time.com unveiled 200 names for its Time 100 (most influential people in the world) issue Thursday. Obviously, liberals and leftists have great influence in today's political sphere, but the conservatives drew about one-fourth the names on the ballot.

This may be picky, but I count about ten conservatives on the list. I put a few "half" picks in brackets for people who aren't as political and/or conservative:

9. Sarah Palin

15. Scott Brown

17. Roger Ailes

[55. Billy Graham]

68. Glenn Beck

72. Eric Cantor

[74. Ron Paul]

77. Mitt Romney

[88. Bristol Palin]

112. Rupert Murdoch

152. Samuel Alito Jr.

155. Andrew Breitbart

189. Benjamin Netanyahu

Meghan McCain, Olympia Snowe, and Arnold Schwarzenegger do not count. Neither does Ted Olson for crusading for gay marriage with David Boies.

My listing of the liberals and leftists counts 44 (and some judgment calls for less political celebrities). Liberals would say it's not surprising that Hollywood stars might tilt the list left.

4. Hillary Clinton

[6. James Cameron]

11. Nancy Pelosi

14. Michelle Obama

18. Dave Eggers

23. Catherine Ashton (UK Labour Party)

24. Arne Duncan

25. Neil Patrick Harris

26. Barack Obama

31. Oprah Winfrey

33. Rahm Emanuel

34. Alec Baldwin

35. Stephen Colbert

[36. Ellen DeGeneres]

39. Seth McFarlane

40. Jon Stewart

53. Michael Lewis

57. Banksy, British anarchist graffiti artist

65. Timothy Geithner

67. Annise Parker, gay mayor of Houston (D)

76. Paul Farmer

78. Atul Gawande

80. Jane Lynch

83. Jeff Zucker

87. Meryl Streep

[90. Adam Lambert]

94. Harvey Weinstein

95. Kanye West

100. Johanna Sigurardottir, lesbian prime minister of Iceland (Social Democrat)

113. Rachel Maddow

114. Ricky Gervais

121. Sonia Sotomayor

124. Warren Buffett

126. Bill and Melinda Gates

130. Dominique Strauss-Kahn (expected to be the Socialist challenger to Sarkozy)

131. Lawrence Summers

132. Kathleen Merrigan, deputy secretary of agriculture

133. Lisa Jackson

134. Michael Pollan

150. Hugo Chavez

151. Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva

153. Cory Booker

156. Evan Bayh

157. Peter Orszag

163. Elton John

180. George Clooney

These lists aren't really about "influence," although that is a factor. They're really more about being trendy, or interesting, or exotic. The magazine skipped President Bush, after all, and omits both Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell this time around in favor of a brand-new freshman Senator. But it's clear Time's idea of who is interesting and exciting might mesh with who they like.

[The Pelosi image is Time's ballot photo.]