Obama is man Americans admire most

The Repubs better rethink any plans to obstruct Obama's legislative agenda...

Obama is man Americans admire most
By Susan Page, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — A month before his inauguration, Americans choose Barack Obama as the man they admire most in the world, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. It's the first time a president-elect has topped the annual survey in more than a half-century.

President Bush falls to a distant second after seven years as the most-admired man.

Hillary Rodham Clinton leads the list of most-admired woman, a spot she's held for 13 of the past 16 years — as first lady, then New York senator and now Obama's designate for secretary of State. A newcomer is second: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who wasn't well-known nationally until Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose her as his running mate in August.

Obama's rise is matched by Bush's decline. The president's support has ebbed nearly every year since 2001, falling to 5% this year.

That matches the presidential low point reached by Harry Truman in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower scored first that year, the only other time a president-elect has led the list since Gallup began asking the question in 1948.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-12-25-admire-poll_N.htm