Jon Stewart named Most Influential Man of the Year by Ask Men

Jon Stewart's magnanimous self

Jon Stewart trumped both Bill Gates and President Barack Obama in the running for Most Influential Man of 2010, as voted by 500,000 readers of AskMen.com.

Stewart was voted Most Influential Man of 2010, leaving Kanye West, James Franco, Mark Zuckerberg, and the ubiquitous Apple CEO Steve Jobs in the dust . President Obama dropped to the 23rd spot from last year’s top five.

Interestingly enough, the demographic of the men on the list has changed over the years, including more “black sheep” than run of the mill big game players. Steven Slater exemplifies such, by making the 48th spot. Slater is the JetBlue flight attendant who quit his job dramatically, ensuring a die-hard fan base.

James Franco is ranked 7 in the list; he combing serious graduate school studies with his actor-ship, in contrast to most celebrities who venture into business. Franco’s outreach into academia deems him one who does not take the beaten path. The same can be said about Stewart, the host of “The Daily Show”, with a cult following similar to that of Stephen Colbert’s “The Colbert Report.”

Stewart is the new alpha male because of his biting wit and atypical influence. Most of the men on the list capture emotions of recession and recovery; they have moved to arenas of academia, entrepreneurship, and their own paths versus finance and stereotypical big business types. The American Dream has proven itself faulty during recession since hard work, punctuality, and work ethics hasn’t proven sufficient. 9.2 percent of the population is still unemployed combined with unrecorded amounts of those who have accepted under-qualified jobs. Stewart’s biting wit, comedy, and political interaction makes him a prime candidate for Most Influential Man in a time of lagging recovery and post-recession.