Right-Of-Center Bloggers Select Their Favorite Editorial Columnists

by John Hawkins | September 17, 2003 1:24 am

Right Wing News emailed more than a 125 right-of-center bloggers and asked them to send us a list of who they considered to be the “worst figures of the 20th century”. Representatives from 37 blogs responded.

All bloggers were allowed to make anywhere from 1-15 ranked selections. The selections were scored based on a weighted scale. A rank of 1-5 was worth (3) points, 6-10 was worth (2) points, & 11-15 was worth (1) point.

So for example, a 1st (3) & 13th (1) place selection would be worth 4 points wheras having three bloggers rank a columnist at 11th (1), 12th (1), and 15th (1) place would be worth 3 points total. Got it? Good.

Also, as an added bonus, I included the number of first place selections each columnist had. The columnists who were picked first on someone’s list have the number of #1 votes they received following a “–“. Note that some of the columnists who received a #1 vote did not get enough other votes to qualify.

Without further adieu, the “Favorite Editorial Columnists” of the right side of the blogosphere are as follows…(Cont)[1]

***Update***: A few notes…

— You can read my selections here[2].

— I thought it was interesting that neither Bill O’Reilly or Patrick Buchanan received a single vote. In O’Reilly’s case, it’s a bit odd that someone who sells books and pulls in the ratings like he does has no big fans of his editorial column.

With Buchanan, I’d say the fact that he wasn’t selected and the mediocre ratings of “Buchanan & Press” are probably a good indicator of his lack of popularity among Conservatives. While Pat still reels people in on a few issues, he’s way, way, out of step with the Conservative mainstream. Were I running a cable network, he wouldn’t be in the top 50 people I’d consider for a hosting slot because he doesn’t appeal to the majority of people he’s supposed to be bringing in. It’s like headlining Lollapalooza with “The Cars”.

— On the hand, wow, could Steyn be anymore dominant? He’s the Michael Jordan of conservative pundits…