Senator Ted Cruz is third 'most influential person of 2013' behind Pope Francis and Pres. Obama, Rasmussen poll, Dec. 11-12, 1000 adults

.
National telephone survey of 1000 adults, Dec. 11 and 12, 2013. "Whom do you consider the most influential person in 2013?"

"Questions-Person of the Year-Dec. 11-12, 2013," RasmussenReports.com
.
"1* 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"

==========================

12/15/13, "23% Name Pope Francis Most Influential, 21% Say Obama," RasmussenReports.com

"Time magazine named Pope Francis its “Person of the Year” last week, and nearly one-in-four Americans agrees with that pick.

Rasmussen Reports gave Americans a similar list of influential people worldwide, and 23% said Pope Francis was the most influential person in 2013. But the new national telephone survey 
finds that nearly as many (21%) felt President Obama was the most influential. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Eleven percent (11%) name Senator Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who is one of the most prominent politicians aligned with the Tea Party movement. National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden is seen as the most influential by eight percent (8%). 

Four percent (4%) think Russian President Vladimir Putin was the most influential person this year, while three percent (3%) say that of both House Speaker John Boehner and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. “Twerking” singer Miley Cyrus and Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton each receive two percent (2%) of the vote, while Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai each earned one percent (1%) support."

====================

Added: I'm a Rasmussen Platinum subscriber so I saw the cross-tabs. They ask you not to publish the information publicly which I won't except to say the sample was R 28%, D 33%, and Other 38%. The 1000 adults weren't "likely voters" or "registered voters" which are terms sometimes used in polls. Perhaps people just said what they consider themselves to be or how they 'leaned.' Also, a Washington Examiner article 12/15/13, had a slightly misleading headline:

"Poll: Ted Cruz 3rd 'most influential' world leader, behind pope, Obama," Washington Examiner, Paul Bedard.

The term 'world leader' didn't appear in the Rasmussen poll question. This was the question:

"Whom do you consider the most influential person in 2013?"

It may be  true that Ted Cruz is a 'world leader,' but the poll only asked who was 'most influential.'




.