...it's about time that due credit was given.

Only tenth?

Based on sheer column inches alone, Steve should be in the top five, at least.

Seriously, the guy is a machine. Does he even get a bathroom break?

Influencial? Sound like Glastris is sucking up to Sonia Sotomayor so she'll shill for the site in her confirmation hearings.

Well done, and well deserved. There is some serious competition out there, though I don't know how Wolf Blitzer is considered "influential".

Congrats, Steve!!! You do great work and deserve all the credit in the world.

Political Animal is number 1 in my world! Congratulations on your well deserved placement. Thank you for your terrific work!!!!

Look how far an old carpetbagger can go!

Not always, but much of the time, a reasoned discussion occurs here.

Folks can easily spot bullsh*t versus intellectual discourse.

The world is reading this blog, influential or not.

Hats off!

I'd say number one. No one does it better and Hilzoy has been a wonderful addition. I like the one stop hop.

Congrats, it's well deserved.

What strikes me most about this list is the difference between the most popular sites on the right and left. You've got media sites somewhat in the middle (and Sullivan is somewhat unclassifiable these days). But the left is dominated by fairly moderate news-driven sites that stay generally stay away from the over-the-top name-calling: HuffPost, TPM, even this site, which has been drifting more and more purely partisan, has a fairly moderate voice.

But on the right, right after The Corner (which is far right but generally respectful), you jump right into the pure wingnut "Barry" sites, Malkin, Instapundit, ... No policy site like Think Progress anywhere near the top, no news site like TPM or HuffPost. The difference is pretty stunning.

Congratulations Steve, and Paul and Carl and all the staff at Washington Monthly - and thanks to Kevin for laying the groundwork. And extra special thanks goes to the commenters who are second to none as far as thoughtful, intelligent, informed and intellectually honest. This is the only blog where I cite commenters in posts I write at my site.

It certainly ranks much higher than tenth for me.

Still huffing and puffing from the Hospital Hill run, Blue Girl? Your work has been sadly, overlooked.

Washington Monthly is one of two tabs that load when I open Chrome (the second is iGoogle).

Keep up the great work!

And deservedly so. This is blog is top-notch stuff, every day, without fail.

Now if we could just edit our comments...

This is absolutely one of my favorite sites. I begin my day reading this site and I also end my day doing the same. It's like my morning and evening paper.

Huffington Post is for my immediate interaction
And this site is for my quiet intellectual and internal reflective reading.

Congrats Steve,

If I want all of the political news of the day, I can...

A) Read Political Animal or

B) Read everything else and then Political Animal.

Thanks, keep it up.

And a hat tip to Hilzoy from me as well. I enjoy getting up early in the AM and reading a thoughtful, well researched piece, even on those occasions when I disagree with it.

Well done, Steve & Team. This little oasis is my 1st stop every morning and throughout the day. Nice job, folks.

This blog is on my home page...I am a daily lurker. This place is a great site for info. Congrats! I am surprised that it is only the tenth most influencial political blog...should be in the top five, imo.

Well-deserved and MUCH more. This site is always my first read. I can always count on Steve and Hilzoy for timely, supremely thoughtful, and beautifully written analyses. As Woof^2 suggested above, the difference in tone, respect for facts, and simple honesty between this site and the top sites on the right is utterly breathtaking.

Somebody knows nine pol blogs better than this? Oh, right, "influential"... they have to use that word so politico can get on, right?

Simply stated: Political Animal deserves to be Number 1

Political ticker at CNN in 4th? You have got be fucking kidding me! Complete rubbish!

Congratulations, and thank you for all of the good information!

Kind of a separate measure, but it does have a good-sized readership, that's fo'sho. I wonder how many visits WM had with Mr. Drum - what part of this is the house that Mr. Drum built, and those people stayed on outta inertia.

I think blogs have a first-mover advantage, and real-estate matters. For instance, I never woulda gone to Carpetbagger and I read Hilzoy once or twice, but there's only so much space for new reads, and by then my patterns were already set. But now I read Hilzoy and Mr. Benen every day. A good site you guys got here.

First in my book.

I'm with others -- this is the second site I visit each morning [iGoogle is my homepage, so that'd be first :-) ].

The posts are insightful, well-written, and well reasoned. The commenters are insightful, witty, and intelligent (well, other than myself). And it's just a generally great place to find out not just what the political world is thinking, but what's actually true.

Now if the powers that be could just update this site from its 2002 design, remember our personal info, and allow us to edit our comments within a few minutes, it'd be perfect.

:-D

Political Animal is my only trusted news source. Congratulations Steve and thanks!

Congratulations, Steve and Hilzoy!

Mod, better correct the misspelling of "influential" before the right wing makes hay with it.

*****

[Good catch! Thanks for pointing it out. The correction has been made. --Mod]

Number One for me. I hit this site multiple times a day, even on days when I read nothing else. The commenters are among the best, as well!

What I find interesting is Political Animal is two ahead of Daily Kos. Unsurprising. I remember when Kevin Drum first reccommended Steve's old Carpetbagger back in early 2005. First time I looked, I knew it was Different From Others.

It is also interesting to note that the right wing sties are all craptacular for their stupidity, which you can't say for any of the lefty sites.

CNN must be for all those newbies to the net who don't know what blogs are.

Steve and Hilzoy! Thanks for all the hard work.

BTW: There's a Greek 'Political Animal' fan page on Facebook. Why not create the American one?

I didn't need these rankings to know you're influential. After all, you've influenced me more than once. That said, you beat out some heavy weights. keep up the good work.

Whoo Hoooo!! Congratulations, Steve. Today Number 10, Tomorrow Number 1!!!

This is the best blog on the internet. Period.

I'm also a very frequent reader. This is far and away my favorite blog. I came here from Carpetbagger (my previous fave). I also enjoy Hilzoy's insightful commentary.

As far as influencing me, this is number one.

shout-out to hilzoy too!! keep it up!

More props for both of you from me. I actually came over here from ObWi when Hilzoy first started here, and was pleasantly surprised by the content and the commenters. I'm a lurker at both sites and seldom post comments, mainly because the other commenters at this site are so much more articulate than I am, and have already posted anything I wanted to say.

TCinLA @ 12:47, you too? I remember very well the same link From Kevin Drum to Carpetbagger. Best link I ever followed. Although I’m retired, I do have a life. I try very hard to keep up with the posts here, but Steve, Hilzoy and others are so prolific that I often fall behind. I truly wish I had the bandwidth to read all comments as well since I agree that they are very interesting and entertaining. They also keep this old Republican from looking like a damn fool all the time :-)

Some might say that Political Animal is a bad influence:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090622/hayes

Congrats!

The best spot, hands down. Congrats, Steve.

The best thing about following Benen over here from the Carpetbagger Report was finding Hilzoy. The two of you make a great combination.

As one who is obligated to occasionally write for another, non-political site, I know how hard it is to crank out a couple items a week. What goes on here is just nuts.

So, rather than say, "keep up the good work," I'll say, "take a day off, Steve!" You've earned it many times over.

Political Animal is the bestest blog in the tubes. Congrats to all who make it possible.

Well, that ought to get you on Wikipedia!

I too followed from Carpetbaggers and this is the one site I have to go to every night before I go to bed in case I missed something during the day.

Long time reader, first time poster. Insight and wit. What would we do without Steve's perspectives.

Congratulations.

Hmmm...

Must have been that video post about Koko's death that put Political Animal into the top ten...

i see the ratings are by the number of links. i wonder if *the corner*, michelle malkin, and *instapundit*, buffoons all, are top rated from links by lefty blogs pointing our how comically stupid they are. i know that's the only reason i go to them.

but steve, et al, do yeoman work, no question.

your pal,
blake

Repeating all of the Kudos above.

And not to forget the carefully crafted zingers and snark from the comments section (you know who you are)!

The down side is I really don't have time to check out any other sites.

its all good.