The Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at IPFW did a poll asking Hoosiers how much they respected 10 well-known figures, mostly politicians. Please, don't be too shocked, but the politicians didn't come out on top:
The most respected out of the list of 10 figures was Mother Teresa - the late Nobel Peace Prize winner for her humanitarian work - with Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy following closely.
Probably if they'd put Princess Di on the list, Mother Teresa wouldn't have done nearly so well. When they died nearly together, it was, Di, Di, Di, woe is us, Di is dead, oh, God, how can we live without her? And, oh, by the way, Mother Teresa kicked off, too.
It is also interesting that, 1) In this Republican state, Barack Obama and John McCain were very close in the respect given them and, 2) Oprah Winfrey and George Bush were also together, at the bottom of the barel. If anybody knows what the hell those results mean, congratulations -- you are the smartest person on the planet.
Comments
I would have asked "Who in the world is Mike Dungy" an hour ago, but most places, not just Indiana, tend to give successful local coaches extremely high levels of respect.
And considering what they have to work with, a successful coach probably deserves a fair amount of respect.
It doesn't surprise me that Lugar and Bayh rank as high as they do. They seem to be intelligent, and seem to be uncommonly honest, uncommonly hard workers.
It doesn't surprise me that Dubya's clear down on the bottom. Many pols are incompetent, and many are evil; he manages to be both at once.
It doesn't surprise me that Obama and McCain are in a dead heat here. They're in a dead heat for Indiana, as well. Sure wish Lugar or Bayh were running for president, instead.
The only one that surprises me is Oprah. She didn't become that successful because she's a pretty face, sings a pretty song, or exposes a pretty body. She's smart, well-read, a hard worker, has common sense, and she seems to be effective as a manager for her small business empire. (I've never attended "The Church of O", but I've read "The Story of O". I didn't realize it was about Oprah. I guess I'll have to read it again.)