12) Jeff Sessions: I love his conservatism and willingness to fight the good fight on issues like illegal immigration.

11) Duncan Hunter (I worked as a consultant for him): He's very conservative, tough on illegal immigration, and a real leader in Congress. Most of the Republicans in Congress, including the leadership, could take lessons in leadership from Dunc.

10) Tom Tancredo: Tanc has been leading the fight on illegal immigration for years and without him on point all this time, the illegal immigration fights we've had during the Bush administration may very well have gone the other way.

9) Tom Coburn: He's is a fiscal conservative's fiscal conservative. Coburn is the prototype of what a Republican senator should be like on fiscal issues.

8) Jim DeMint: DeMint is probably my favorite elected Republican. He's fiscally conservative, tough on illegal immigration, willing to fight back against the Democrats, and willing to go toe to toe with the Dems or the GOP leadership on issues of principle.

7) Antonin Scalia: Perhaps the most brilliant conservative, legal mind on the planet.

6) Ann Coulter: She goes overboard at times, but she's brilliant, extremely courageous, and a phenomenal writer. She also has a knack for saying things that other people think, but don't have the guts to say.

5) Mark Steyn: He's a great thinker and as good a writer as is walking the planet today. Steyn is the Michael Jordan of columnists.

4) Newt Gingrich: He has a brilliant mind and without his leadership, the Republican revolution of 1994 probably wouldn't have occurred.

3) Michelle Malkin: It's hard not to admire a woman as courageous, talented, ambitious, and conservative as Michelle. Plus, she's the best of the best in my chosen profession: blogging.

2) Thomas Sowell: Sowell is a great columnist, outstanding at explaining economics, and he has a particular genius for taking complex subjects and making them easily understandable and explainable.

1) Rush Limbaugh: He has a lot to do with why I'm conservative, why I got into blogging, and the success conservatives have had since the Reagan years. In fact, other than Ronald Reagan, nobody has been more important to modern conservatism than Rush Limbaugh.