50 Politicos to Watch – POLITICO Names 10 Women to the List
July 15, 2009
POLITICO, the newest and hottest D.C. political newspaper/news site has announced its top 50 politicos to watch. Out of the 50 politicos named to the various categories, 10 women were named to the list. Maybe the folks at POLITICO should tune into ElectWomen Magazine a little more often; they would see a lot more women up and coming in the political world. Here’s the story:
By POLITICO Staff
Given the name of this publication, we sometimes get asked a good question: What exactly is a politico? There are a lot of definitions that fit, but here’s one that seems to work well: A politico is a participant in and/or an especially avid devotee of the theater of politics.
There is no grander stage than the capital for this particular drama. And what is the main thing you do at the theater? You watch it, of course. And then you laugh or cry or yawn or boo. At the end, you applaud — whether out of admiration for the performance or gratitude that it is over.
This issue (the third special glossy that POLITICO has published this year) is devoted to 50 Politicos to Watch. In some cases, the people are on the watch list because they are on the rise — the kind of list people in Washington relish being on. But be careful what you wish for. Some politicos are interesting to watch because they are in the middle of one sticky mess or another.
But in every case, the names we compiled here — and, let’s be honest, the list is somewhat random — were identified by our reporters and editors as being characters in motion, in the middle of interesting plots.
Politics is always in motion, which is why Washington is always interesting — and rarely more interesting than during the first year of an ambitious new administration. Fluidity is the great constant.
That aggressive young fundraiser who would not leave you alone 20 years ago? He’s White House chief of staff now. That fresh-faced congressional staffer who seemed like such a promising young man? Negotiating with prosecutors to avoid jail time.
People rise; people fall.
Some people forget this at their peril. In the Clinton years, when political consultant Dick Morris was the second-most-powerful man in Washington and was not wearing it well, a staff assistant reminded him that he should be nice to people on the way up so they would be nice to him on the way down.
I’m not going down, Morris retorted. A few weeks later, he was on the cover of Time for a sex scandal, and a few years after that, he was back on the way up with a series of best-selling books and TV commentator gigs.
Here is our list of some celebrated and some obscure actors now occupying interesting spots on the political stage. Keep your eyes on these folks. And enjoy the show.
Politicos on the rise:
John O. Brennan
Dan Pfeiffer
Tom Donilon
Robert Gibbs
Second-wave politicos:
Chuck Hagel
Jennifer Palmieri
Sen. Chris Dodd
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Dead men walking:
Sen. Jim Bunning
Sen. Roland Burris
Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao
Politicos on the ropes:
Rep. John Murtha
Rep. Charles Rangel
Rep. Don Young
Norm Coleman
Loose cannons:
Rep. Virginia Foxx
Rep. Michele Bachmann
Rep. Pete Stark
Politico mischief-makers:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Sen. Judd Gregg
Sen. Arlen Specter
Rep. Luis Guttierez
Justin Ruben
Rainmaking politicos:
Tony Podesta
John Buscher
Broderick Johnson
Dick Gephardt
Politico job gurus:
Jon Carson
Marlon Marshall
Jon Schnur
Under-the-radar politicos:
Nikki Haley
John Ryder
Alex Sink
Matt Strawn
Outside-the-Beltway politicos:
Rafael Anchia
Bob McDonnell
Marco Rubio
Kamala Harris
Jennifer McClellan
Blasting politicos:
Kurt Bardella
Hari Sevugan
Joe Pounder
Politicos of the Fourth Estate:
Chuck Todd
Eugene Robinson
Laura Rozen
Charles Krauthammer
Rookies of the year:
Rep. Donna Edwards
Rep. Glenn Nye
Rep. Chris Lee
Sen. Mark Begich
Here are the women that made the list:
Donna Edwards
Laura Rozen
Jennifer McClellan
Kamala Harris
Alex Sink
Nikki Haley
Nancy Pelosi
Michele Bachmann
Virginia Foxx
Jennifer Palmieri