The top US conservatives and liberals

By Toby Harnden

With a year to go before voters across the United States go to the polls to elect their 44th president, The Daily Telegraph unveils its list of the 100 most influential conservatives and 100 most influential liberals in America.

Top conservatives: 1-20 | 21-40 | 41-60 | 61-80 | 81-100 | Your choices Top liberals: 1-20 | 21-40 | 41-60 | 61-80 | 81-100 | Your choices Toby Harnden: Crossing America, a political odyssey The 2008 election is arguably the most open contest since 1928. The victor will become the most powerful person in the world at a time of almost unprecedented challenge and turmoil. Selecting just 200 principal political figures in such a diverse, ideologically intense and divided country in a time of war was no straightforward task. We consulted widely among our contacts across the political spectrum and outside it, as well as engaging in vigorous internal debate before deciding on our choices. To qualify for the lists, people have to live and work in the United States. Conservatives are people identifiably – though not always self-described – as right of centre. Liberals – though the term is an unpopular one in the US, with even Hillary Clinton preferring “progressive” – are those identifiably left of centre. Although there are many Republicans on the conservative list and many liberals on the Democratic list, not all 200 are aligned with a party. The key to inclusion was the term “influence” – which people do, and will, most affect American politics both in terms of ideas and the enactment of policy. We have chosen political candidates, pollsters, campaign operatives, members of think tanks, journalists, bloggers, fundraisers, big-money donors and the occasional celebrity. Why Bush doesn't make the top 20 | 2008 US election | Perils of a Top 100 Inclusion does not imply the approval of this newspaper or its correspondents – and the views of many on the lists will be anathema to large numbers of our readers. When in doubt, we have leant towards those likely to be most influential in the future rather than those whose careers and impact lies in the past. But some historical figures cast such a long shadow that it would have been perverse to have excluded them. The mere holding of a high office did not guarantee inclusion, though it was often an important factor. The future influence of some figures will depend largely on whether the candidate they are associated with wins their party’s nomination or the presidency. Certainly, a year and a week from today, these lists will probably be very – though by no means entirely – different. It was far from easy to agree among ourselves as to who to include and in what order. Many readers will dispute a number of those who appear on our lists and no doubt be eager to put forward substitutes. Today, we publish those ranked 41 to 60 on each list. On Thursday we will publish 21 to 40 before concluding on Friday with the Top 20 Most Influential conservatives and the Top 20 Most Influential liberals in America today. These are our lists. We know that you will not agree with all our choices and we encourage you to submit your own lists. Let the debate begin.