Most of the biggest political winners of 2012 didn’t even win an election this year: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards among them.
But it didn’t hurt if you won an election. Ask President Obama, who won a surprisingly large victory in the Electoral College. Or Texas Sen.-elect Ted Cruz, whose win was simply a huge surprise.
Here are our nominees for top political winners of the past year:
1. Barack Obama
No incumbent president with an unemployment rate as high as it is right now had won re-election since Franklin D. Roosevelt. Now we can add Barack Obama to that list. The 44th president made history. Again. Instead of being the 21st century reincarnation of Jimmy Carter, the symbol of failed Democratic incumbents, Obama ended up as Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.
2. Chris Christie
Superstorm Sandy caused a massive amount of damage in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. But the aggressive, nonpartisan response of each state’s governor caused their popularity to soar. And nobody gained more than New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whose approval rate now tops 70 percent and is expected to breeze to re-election next year. He instantly became a top-tier presidential candidate for 2016. But we’re getting waaaaaay ahead of ourselves.
3. Hillary Clinton
Even the continuing controversy over the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi hasn’t done serious damage to the most p0pular member of President Obama’s Cabinet. Hillary Clinton insists she’s retiring after four years as Secretary of State, but political pundits have almost universally anointed her as the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee.
4. Rand Paul
After just two years in the Senate, the conservative Republican from Kentucky has become the leader of Tea Party forces and the heir apparent to the libertarian movement long led by his father, retiring Rep. Ron Paul. For his newfound prominence, Rand Paul can thank South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint for resigning from the Senate. We’ll see soon enough if the younger Paul is angling for lasting legislative impact or a path to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
5. Cecile Richards
If the National Rifle Association lost almost every hotly contested race it entered, Planned Parenthood got the best return on its political investment of any interest group in 2012. The organization’s CEO, Cecile Richards, should get most of the credit. Politically savvy and a strong communicator, the daughter of the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards is being touted as a future Democratic candidate in the Lone Star State. Slight problem. She works in New York.
6. Marco Rubio
The Florida freshman’s dynamic speech at the Republican National Convention — capped off by the story of his father, the banquet bartender — thrust him into the upper echelon of Republican rising stars. In reality, it’s a small firmament. With the GOP facing a massive challenge attracting Latino voters, the Cuban-American conservative could well be on the 2016 GOP White House ticket.
7. Julian Castro
Just eight years ago, a young Democratic National Convention keynote speaker made himself a national figure by wowing ‘em as an orator and political philosopher. That guy was Barack Obama. San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, now 38, pulled off the same trick this past September. Rumors abound in Washington of a Clinton-Castro ticket in 2016. Premature? Of course. Plausible? Definitely.
8. Cory Booker
Is New Jersey big enough for two national political stars? Yes, siree! With Gov. Christie cruising to re-election, the popular Newark mayor has set his sights on the Senate seat now held by 88-year-old Democrat Frank Lautenberg. Booker, a master of social media and constituent services, would be a heavy favorite to win a Senate seat, his next step on the path to … the White House?
9. Barbara Mikulsi
She’s already the longest-serve female senator in American history. Following the recent death of Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, Maryland legend Barbara Mikulski also became the most powerful woman in Senate history when she became chair of the (powerful) Senate Appropriations Committee. There’s not as much to spend as there used to be. But as the blue-collar pol from inner city Baltimore told TV station WJZ, “I’m that Highlandtown girl, I know how to shop for the bargains. We’re going to get a big bang for our buck.”
10. Ted Cruz
The 42-year-old lawyer from Houston went from national obscurity (except in constitutional conservative circles) to toast of the Right. He graced the cover of National Review en route to a stunning Republican runoff upset over well-financed (and well-known) Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. His path to prominence went through Tampa, where he delivered a highly praised speech to the Republican National Convention. He’ll arrive in Washington as a history-making figure: the first Hispanic senator in Texas history.
Honorable mentions:
Elizabeth Warren, who ousted Massachusetts Republican Sen. Scott Brown to regain the Senate.
Tim Scott, who will become the first African American senator from the former Confederacy since Reconstruction.
Joaquin Castro, who will bring the San Antonio twins’ political mojo to DC.
Bill Clinton, perhaps the best presidential campaign surrogate of all time.
Dianne Feinstein, who used her post as Senate Intelligence Committee chair to stay in the headlines and will be at the center of 2013 gun-control debates.