By Paul Bedard
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has had the best year of any Republican and virtually anyone in the world, ranking third in Rasmussen Report’s new poll of the of the “most influential” people in the world, 
behind Pope Francis and President Obama.
In the new poll, Cruz, who made headlines for trying to dismantle Obamacare, was the pick for the most influential of 11 percent. The pope was tops at 23 percent, Obama second at 21 percent.
Among Republicans, Cruz was second behind the pope, with 19 percent calling the freshman senator and Tea Party leader the world’s most influential leader. Just 9 percent of Republicans said the same thing of Obama.
Two other Republicans on Rasmussen’s list, House Speaker John Boehner and newly reelected New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, tied at 3 percent.
Rasmussen: Whom do you consider the most influential person in 2013?
- 23% Pope Francis
- 21% Barack Obama
- 11% Ted Cruz
- 8% Edward Snowden
- 4% Vladimir Putin
- 3% John Boehner
- 3% Chris Christie
- 2% Miley Cyrus
- 2% Kate Middleton
- 1% Angela Merkel
- 1% Malala Yousafzai
- 1% Kathleen Sebelius
- 0% Bashar Assad
- 0% Kanye West
- 0% Lebron James
- 0% George Zimmerman
- 12% Some other person
- 9% Not sure
NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence
Paul Bedard, The Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com.
