The Associated Press has done a poll of Americans to determine the biggest villain and biggest hero of the past year. In a comfortable lead, President Bush took the villain of the year. However, in another easy win, President Bush took hero of the year. I’m surprised by half the results, given how bad a President he has been in my eyes. But clearly at least 30% of the country has a different view of the man than I have.
Bad guy of 2006: President Bush. Good guy of 2006: President Bush. When people were asked in an AP-AOL News poll to name the villains and heroes of the year, Bush topped both lists, in a sign of these polarized times.
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Bush won the villain sweepstakes by a landslide, with one in four respondents putting him at the top of that bad-guy list. When people were asked to name the candidate for villain that first came to mind, Bush far outdistanced even Osama bin Laden, the terrorist leader in hiding; and former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who is scheduled for execution.
The president was picked as hero of the year by a much smaller margin. In the poll, 13 percent named him as their favorite while 6 percent cited the troops in Iraq.
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Bush was the choice of 43 percent of Democrats for villain, and 27 percent of Republicans for hero.
And while we’re looking at the best and worst, why not see what else the AP poll covered?
On the question of celebrity role models, a pop singer’s bad behavior claimed worst honors.
When asked to choose from a list of names, nearly three in 10 adults, or 29 percent, bestowed the honor of worst celebrity of the year on [Britney] Spears.
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Second-worst celebrity billing went to [Paris] Hilton, 18 percent. The 25-year-old celebutante was arrested for drunken driving in Los Angeles in September while, she has said, she was on a late-night hamburger run.
Mel Gibson, 50, was third-worst celebrity with 12 percent, surely the result of his anti-Semitic tirade at police in Malibu, Calif., during his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving. He later apologized and said he harbored no animosity toward Jews.
[tags]Best and worst of 2006, Villain of 2006 – President Bush, Hero of 2006 – President Bush[/tags]