It wasn’t even close. Spain’s Jose Zapatero was picked by 46.2% of our site’s readers as their favorite foreign leader. Trailing by almost 16 points was a surprising second choice, Germany’s Angela Merkel, who received 30.8% of the votes. Clearly we have some hard core progressives reading since Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez received one out of every ten votes, placing a strong third.

The only other two leaders earning votes were France’s Nicolas Sarkozy at 7.7% and South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki at 3.8%.

Interestingly, Gordon Brown is not taking office with the same excitement that Tony Blair did in 1997. He received no votes in the poll. I believe that he still has to be defined to most progressives in the United States since he lived in the shadow of Prime Minister Blair for ten years. My guess is that he is more concerned about British citizens right now then international esteem.

Not surprisingly, neither Russia’s Putin nor China’s Hu Jintao earned any votes.

Which Foreign Leader Do You Most Admire?

Spain’s Jose Zapatero: 46.2%
Germany’s Angela Merkel: 30.8%
Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez: 11.5%
France’s Nicolas Sarkozy: 7.7%
South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki: 3.8%
Russia’s Vladimir Putin: 0.0%
Great Britain’s Gordon Brown: 0.0%
China’s Hu Jintao: 0.0