Newsweek 50

What makes these people powerful?

Newsweek has a list of the most influential political figures.
Some are former political government officials, but many are
talk show hosts. Some are journalists.  There are a few others
outside these three areas.  I guess it would mean one of the
following: win an election, start a popular talk show, or
become an influential journalist.  This is Newsweek story,
so maybe the list is their list.  Other people would disagree
with their list.

The story is here:

Not on the list is George Soros amongst others.  Soros is not
powerful?  But Soros is not a media personality.  But he does
get involved in politics.  Newsweek is tying money making skills
to this.  Maybe Soros doesn't make money at this per se, but
that doesn't mean he has no influence.

I question the methodology in making this list.  It is a list
of who makes the most money at "it", meaning the "it" is
defined by them.  Whoever is "it" seems the be the target,
I would think.

I could rephrase it my question as this  "what makes these
people popular?"  Are they popular because of their ideas,
or are they popular because of their personalities?  Does
popularity translate into political power?  Does it really?
Limbaugh is at the top of the list, but the Republicans lost
big in 2008.  They won this year, but only the House.