Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert - The 2011 TIME 100 Poll

The 2011 TIME 100 Poll

Cast your votes for the leaders, artists, innovators, icons and heroes that you think are the most influential people in the world. Though official voting for inclusion on the TIME 100 list has now closed (with Rain as the 2011 readers' choice), users can continue to vote for their favorites until the final list, selected by our editors, is revealed on Thursday, April 21st

dek — Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic
Stephen Colbert, left, and Jon Stewart

Ages: Stewart, 48; Colbert, 46
Occupations: Late-night TV hosts, satirists
Previous TIME 100 appearances: 1 each

The perennially quote-worthy cable satirists reached a new pinnacle of public influence with the 2010 Rally to Restore Sanity on the National Mall. The duo's plea for a new civility in our discourse got lots of laughs, but it became much more serious in the aftermath of the Tucson shooting, as renewed attention was paid to the extreme rhetoric being used in the political arena. Last September Colbert testified in front of Congress, appearing (albeit in character most of the time) before a House subcommittee on immigration. Stewart's Daily Show overtook Jay Leno and David Letterman in ratings among the 18-49 demographic for the first time ever during the fourth quarter of 2010.

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