But then I looked at the article, and that headline is just plain wrong. A small (and narrow) plurality of Republicans consider Ted Cruz as the GOP leader.
'Twenty-one percent chose Cruz, 17 percent chose New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and 15 percent chose House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). Nine percent chose Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), 8 percent chose Mitt Romney, 7 percent picked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), 4 percent chose Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and 4 percent picked Sarah Palin.'
That actually points to a more serious problem: there is no leader, just the current publicity darling who gets the most lens time. If Cruz can't garner even a quarter of the choices, there's certainly no way to call him (or anyone) "leader".
That will shake out — maybe — as we get closer to 2016. But I think it's clear that the lack of a strong leader or two is one of the reasons why the GOP is thrashing about and impossible to predict (or engage with).
Poll: Republicans View Ted Cruz As GOP Leader
Republican voters view Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) as the leader of their party, according to a Public Policy Polling poll released Friday.
Twenty-one percent chose Cruz, 17 percent chose New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and 15 percent chose House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).
But isn't this typical of ANY party who doesn't hold the Presidency?
Who was the leader of the Democratic Party in 2006? Nancy Pelosi, Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, or someone else?
While one could argue that Newt Gingrich was the leader of the Republican Party in 1994, the 1998 situation is a lot murkier.
Sometimes it's not clear even when a party does hold the Presidency. A large portion of the Republican Party considered Ronald Reagan as the leader in 1976, and a large portion of the Democratic Party considered Ted Kennedy as the leader in 1980.
And by 2015, it will be unclear who the leader of the Democratic Party is.
To a degree, yes, +John E. Bredehoft. But I feel the GOP is a special case right now, perhaps because of its internal divides. Cruz is, I think, a flavor of the month; Ryan is probably closer to a GOP leader, in terms of being able to articulate a vision that the majority in the party more or less agree with. But he's down in the single digits in this particular poll.