[size=14pt]2010 polls: Obama most admired man; Palin top religious newsmaker[/size]
By Rachel Rose Hartman

It was a tough year to be Barack Obama in many respects--but he's ending it on a strong note. Not only did the president rack up a number of key legislative wins in the lame-duck 111th Congress, but he also won the honor of being the man Americans admired most in 2010, according to a Gallup/USA Today poll released Monday.
Twenty-two percent of Americans surveyed said that the president is the person they hold in highest esteem, granting Obama the titled of "Most Admired Man" for the third year in a row in the annual survey.


George W. Bush placed second with 5 percent, and Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela and Bill Gates rounded out the top five, in that order.
Hillary Clinton placed first in Gallup's survey of the woman Americans most admire.

However, while Obama is holding steady in terms of mundane esteem, one of his best-known detractors made impressive inroads in another poll gauging popularity in a beyond this-worldly scale. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin--who also finished second in the "Most Admired Women" tally, ahead of another longtime rival, Oprah Winfrey--took top honors in an online poll Monday for her influence on the country's religious values.
The former Alaska governor placed first in a USA Today online straw poll of the top religion newsmaker of 2010. Palin finished ahead of Pope Benedict and Imam Abdul Feisal Rauf, the man behind the proposed religious center with mosque proposed near Ground Zero. The men tied for second place.
(Photo: AP/Carolyn Caster)

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