The 2009 TIME 100 Finalists

Cast your votes for the leaders, artists, entrepreneurs and thinkers who deserve a spot on this year's TIME 100. — By Brian Raftery

Rush Limbaugh

Radio personality Rush Limbaugh

Win McNamee / Getty

AGE: 58
OCCUPATION: Radio host
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 0

PRO: Thanks to Limbaugh's constant sparring with both the White House and the GOP, his cultural cachet has returned to its Clinton-era heights. And whether you consider him a last-of-his-breed patriot or a swollen nag, he'll be sticking around for a few extra terms, having signed a $400 million-plus deal that will take him through 2016.

CON: His longing to see Obama fail has struck even some Republicans as unnecessarily retrograde.

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