Washington, D.C. loves nothing more than a good list. Good news for us, GQ magazine just released their 50 Most Powerful People in Washington, and the bickering about the list has already begun. [WaPo]
Is Eric Cantor really the most powerful person in Washington? Do a couple of party planners and weathercasters really outrank the president of the United States? [see note below]
Well, if you’re going to get all work up over GQ’s new “50 Most Powerful People in Washington” list, you clearly have no appreciation for the art of the magazine listicle. When Rolling Stone compiles its “best songs of all times,” of course some of the picks will be controversial or demonstrably incorrect — otherwise you wouldn’t care enough to buy it.
Note: GQ does clarify that their list does not include the President and VP, but what about Doris the Longworth cashier?
- Eric Cantor
- Mitch McConnell
- David Plouffe
- Leon Panetta
- Hillary Clinton
- Ben Bernanke
- David Petraeus
- Kevin McCarthy
- Pete Rouse
- U.S. Chamber’s Tom Donohue
- Tim Geithner
- John Boehner
- Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie, Steven Law (American Crossroads)
- Tommy Boggs, chairman, Patton Boggs
- Dan Pfeiffer
- Gene Sperling and Jack Lew
- Chuck Schumer
- Grover Norquist
- Chuck Todd
- Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser and speechwriter, and brother David Rhodes, president of CBS News
- Paul Ryan
- Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough
- Heather and Tony Podesta
- Chris Van Hollen
- Paul Clement, partner, Bancroft
Noteworthy: Joe Pounder [@PounderFile] is #28.
h/t Mike Allen