Forbes Magazine has rated Michelle Obama ahead of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin as the most powerful woman in the world.

Big mistake.

Michelle is named as No.1. Hillary is rated as No. 5, Sarah Palin at No.16

Michelle Obama is an extraordinary woman but would have little impact were she not the wife of the president of the United States.

There is also the reality that while the First Lady can inspire and encourage she cannot actually impact policy in any direct manner

Hillary Clinton,of course, knows that very well and while she was initially in her husband's shadows she has since emerged as a leader in her own right first as a U.S. senator then a presidential candidate and then as Secretary of State.

She is by far the most accomplished woman of her generation.To rate her behind not only Michelle Obama, but Oprah Winfrey too is ludicrous

It is hard to argue, as Forbes do, that a First Lady with no executive power is as powerful as the U.S. Secretary of State who has intervened in some of the world's major trouble spots and has played an increasingly key role in the foreign policy agenda of Barack Obama.

It is also hard to argue that Michelle is more powerful than Sarah Palin who at one point was potentially within a heartbeat of the presidency.

Prior to that she was a popular governor of Alaska, one of the few women to run a statehouse.

Since her presidential run she has become a political phenomenon influencing millions of Americans through her speeches, tweets and television interviews.

Yet she is rated not only behind Michelle Obama but also Lady Gaga,Beyonce and Ellen De Generes

But before some of you say it some liberal agenda, this is Forbes magazine, bastion of conservative politics.

So their choices are bound to be controversial across the board. No question in my mind when it comes to power, Hillary Clinton should be rated first with Palin second.