State claims 3 on influential list

Alabamians Artur Davis, Condoleezza Rice and Fred Thompson are among the top 200 most influential persons in America in lists compiled by a British newspaper, the Telegraph.

Rice, the American secretary of state, is a Birmingham native.

Davis, a Democratic U.S. Representative from Birmingham, and Thompson, a native of Muscle Shoals, a former U.S. senator from Tennessee and a presidential candidate, are on the newspaper's lists of the top 100 influential conservatives and liberals.

Rice (No. 12) and Thompson (No. 54) are conservatives while Davis (No. 89) is a liberal. The Telegraph calls him a moderate.

"A member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee who is undoubtedly a rising star in Congress," the Telegraph said of Davis, a Harvard-educated lawyer who is moderate and pro-Israel.

Just barely 40, the Telegraph said Davis is "part of a new breed of black politician who grew up (during) the struggles of the 1960s" and who is close to another rising star, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Auburn Montgomery political science professor D'Linell Finley reacted to the Davis listing.

"Speaking out on the policies brings attention to him," Finley said. "The fact he is in Congress makes him a little bit different than most African-American leaders."

Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Joe Turnham said Davis gets accolades from Republicans as well and is ideologically diverse.

"More especially, Artur is in wide demand as a speaker both in Alabama and around the country, not just by Democratic groups, but by conservative groups as well," Turnham said.

Turnham's Republican Party counterpart, state Rep. Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, when asked for his view, didn't mention Davis by name but listed the "sins" of the Democratic Party to which Davis belongs.

"Even though the Alabama Democrats claim their political philosophy is more conservative than the national Democrats', this list certainly confirms what we Republicans already knew - the Alabama Democrat Party is filled with individuals who are just as committed to promoting liberalism and leftist policies as their national brethren," Hubbard said.

The Telegraph was not too enamored with Rice. The paper said she was a relatively obscure provost of Stanford University and a former Soviet analyst in the first George

Bush administration.

"Her biggest asset was having the ear of George W. Bush" but her legacy "is likely to be a tarnished one" because of her stand on Iran, the Telegraph said.

Finley said Rice gets her influence from President Bush as articulator of the nation's foreign policy.

"She is a Bush loyalist and whatever the administration is likely to push, I think Miss Rice is going to be out front pushing it," he said.

To qualify for the lists, a person had to live and work in the United States.

Conservatives were identified as right of center and liberals as left of center. The lists include journalists, bloggers, lobbyists, fundraisers, big donors, commentators and celebrities.

The lists contained surprises. U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, of Connecticut, is on both lists. President Bush wasn't even in the top 10 most influential conservatives. He was No. 21 behind his policy adviser, someone only a handful of insiders ever heard of.

Former President Bill Clinton was the No. 1 most influential liberal, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican presidential candidate, was the No. 1 most influential conservative.

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Here are the top 10 influential conservatives in order: Rudy Giuliani; U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander of coalition forces in Iraq; Matt Drudge, Internet journalist and talk radio host; Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House; Rush Limbaugh, talk show host; Dick Cheney, vice president of the U.S.; Robert Gates, U.S. defense secretary; John Roberts, chief justice of the United States; John McCain, U.S. senator and presidential candidate; Mitt Romney, former governor and Republican presidential candidate.

Here are the top 10 most influential liberals in order: Bill Clinton; Al Gore, former vice president; Mark Penn, political strategist and adviser to Hillary Clinton; Hillary Clinton, U.S. senator and Democratic presidential candidate; Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House; Barack Obama, U.S. senator and Democratic presidential candidate; Michael Moore, controversial film maker; Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor of California; Oprah Winfrey, talk show host and "very possibly the most influential woman in the world"; Evan Bayh, U.S. senator from Indiana.

Dana Beyerle can be reached at (334) 264-6605 or dtb123@aol.com.