Poor Bill Daley. The former White House Chief of Staff was supposed to get a little bit of glory, coming in at No. 36 on GQ’s 50 Most Powerful People in Washington list, which came out Wednesday. But because he left his post at the White House and Washington between the time the magazine went to print and the list going to the web, the folks at GQ left him on the list online, but with a bright red x-mark over his face and his bio scratched out, except to read: “Still a Daley, no longer in D.C.” Ouch.
To add salt to the wound it was his White House predecessor, Rahm Emanuel, who clocked in at No. 1 the last time the list was published back in October 2009. Now, instead of a D at the front of the pack, it’s House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, followed soon after by both his “Young Gun” allies, with Rep. Kevin McCarthy listed at No. 8 and Paul Ryan as No. 21. Speaker of the House John Boehner came in behind both Cantor and McCarthy at No. 12, while Democrats David Plouffe (No. 3), Leon Panetta (No. 4) and Hillary Clinton (No. 5) represented the top positions for their party.
After some of the town’s top lawmakers, lawyers and lobbyists, GQ gave some love to D.C.’s more playful people too. Chef Jose Andres scored the No. 41 spot, followed by a party planning trio Barbara Martin and Jayne Sandman of BrandLinkDC and Brightest Young Things’ Svetlana Legetic.
Coming in at No. 44 was the first male White House Social Secretary Jeremy Bernard. Restaurateur James Alefantis helped conclude the list at No. 49, followed by Politics & Prose’s owners Bradley Graham and Lissa Muscatine at No. 50.
