2009 may have been an unexpectedly rough year for Democratic leadership, but Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama still topped the Gallup/USA Today poll's "Most Admired" polling for 2009. Gallup has taken this poll annually since 1961.
Despite his first-year struggles, President Obama was the runaway "Most Admired Man," followed far behind by a mixed bevy of political,religious, and business figures:
- Most Admired Man, 2009
- Barack Obama - 30%
- George W. Bush - 4%
- Nelson Mandela - 3%
- Pope Benedict XVI - 2%
- Billy Graham - 2%
- Bill Gates - 2%
- Glenn Beck - 2%
"The only past presidents to score higher were George W. Bush in 2001, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, and John Kennedy in 1961," per USA Today.
More intriguing, and perhaps more surprising, were poll results for "Most Admired Woman" in 2009:
- Most Admired Woman, 2009
- Hillary Clinton - 16%
- Sarah Palin - 15%
- Oprah Winfrey - 8%
- Michelle Obama - 7%
- Queen Elizabeth - 2%
- Condoleezza Rice - 2%
- Elin Nordegren Woods - 1%
- Margaret Thatcher - 1%
- Angela Merkel - 1%
- Maya Angelou - 1%
These results are surprising for several reasons:
Hillary Clinton lost the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, and lost her half-hearted bid to be Obama's vice president. And as a member of Obama's cabinet, Secretary of State Clinton has maintained a fairly low public profile, tirelessly working in support of Obama's agenda rather than her own.
And yet, Democrat Hillary Clinton remains an astonishingly formidable influence over Americans. "Clinton continues an unprecedented 17-year run as the first or second most-admired woman. She first led the list in 1993 as first lady and has held the top spot for the past eight years," per USA Today.
Just behind Clinton is Republican Sarah Palin, who, paradoxically, has become even more popular since losing her bid for the vice presidency. As evidenced by strong sales of her bestselling memoir, Sarah Palin is deeply admired by an adoring segment of the American public.
Intriguingly, Oprah Winfrey fell to a distant third behind Clinton and Palin. In 2008-09, of course, Oprah, for the first time in her storied three-decade career, used her considerable cache and vast fortune to publicly endorse a political candidate, Barack Obama.
And even more intriguing, First Lady Michelle Obama fell to fourth among "Most Admired Woman" in 2009. For more than two decades, first ladies have usually polled #1 or #2 among most admired women.
In contrast, however, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll finds that while President Obama is "the most popular man in his administration, ... he's not the most popular person."
Who are the most popular Obama administration members? Per CNN, "the president's poll numbers pale in comparison to the favorable ratings of two women: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and first lady Michelle Obama."
What this slightly confusing poll data seems to say is: Mr. President, your 2012 reelection bid has an extremely solid chance for success... unless Hillary, Sarah, or Michelle (or Oprah?) run against you.
Intriguing polls, indeed!
(Photo taken on Nov 17, 2009 in Beijing, China: Feng Li/Getty Images)
Comments
I was never a huge fan of Hillary Clinton. However, since she has become Secretary of State I’ve grown to admire her. You might expect that she would promote an international agenda sprinkled with her own personal beliefs. No. She is an outstanding negotiator who the heads of foreign countries don’t push around and she promotes the agenda that her boss, President Obama, wants her to. She has put aside her own personal thinking and is doing the job she was appointed to exactly as she should. I may not agree with all of Obama’s agenda and what she advocates but I certainly admire the commitment, her ability and dedication she’s shown to doing the job she took and agreed to doing.
There could be, but I’m hard pressed at the moment to think of a better Secretary of State.
Obama … admired for what? If being an accomplished liar warrants admiration then the designation is well deserved. On other levels it’s about as deserved as the Nobel Peace Prize (what a joke that was).
Hilary should be admired for managing to somehow keep her head above the Lord of Incompetence.
Janet N. is an example of another inexperienced person accepting a position in an area outside her expertise. What award can we give to her?
I always admired Hilary’s economic plans. She campaigned on a balanced budget, which was under-rated at the time. Today’s $12 trillion debt shows how important really is!
As for Janet Napolitano, most of us here in Arizona were sorry to see her go as Governor. She is well-informed, logical and a strong leader.
Janet Napolitano is a disaster in Homeland Sec., she is in over her head just like Obama.
Hilary is busy getting visa’s for her old friends like Riadi instead of checking on terrorist’s with visa’s like the underware bomber….this administration is screwing America. Look at Eric Holder, pardoned Rich in the Clinton last day’s and now is pushing bringing 9-11 terroist back to NYC for trials.
This bunch of jerk-off’s won’t stop their progressive BS until we are Hit worse than 9-11.