Boston's Most Powerful People: Mr. and Ms. Popularity?

Based on polls by University of Massachusetts Lowell/Boston Herald

Everyone likes to pretend that politics is all about grand ideas, but, really, it’s just a popularity contest. And the most well-liked politicians tend to get their way.

To the right, we have local favorability ratings for top politicians; unsurprisingly, just about all of them ended up on our list. We ranked Deval Patrick as the fourth most powerful person in Boston; John Kerry landed at spot 25; Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren continue their battle for slot 26; and Mitt Romney was my choice for number 51. As for the two who didn’t make our list, Barack Obama and Barney Frank? Well, Obama doesn’t spend a whole lot of time in our Democratic-Party-dominated state, and Frank, a liberal standard-bearer, is retiring.