Chris Matthews the Most Powerful Commentator in the US?

May 2nd, 2008 9:04 PM

Chris Matthews on his syndicated showAccording to new rankings by the Telegraph newspaper, Chris Matthews is the second most influential pundit in the United States.

Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh came in fourth. Explained the Telegraph, "John McCain has declared: 'I don’t listen to [Rush].' But thousands of the voters he needs in November do."

Bill O'Reilly's 2.3 million viewers earned him the 12th spot, just ahead of Keith Olberman's 700,000 to 900,000.

Of course, a mild amount of research on the part of the Telegraph would have revealed that Rush brings more than "thousands" of voters to the table. He brings in excess of 13.5 million.

Yet Chris Matthews' 530,000 viewers trumped all of these people, making him the second most influential person in the United States. This is a laughable assertion at best. Am I the only one wondering if the Brits are trying to promote Matthews's Senate campaign?