Gallup has released its lists of the most admired men and women by Americans since 1946. Reverend Billy Graham and former President Ronald Reagan top the list for the "most admired man" over the period from 1946-2014. Queen Elizabeth II and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher lead the way for the "most admired woman" during this time frame.
All four of these individuals are deeply principled and would be unequivocally placed on the conservative side of the political ledger. Their enduring popularity should be showing the path forward with the next generation of political and spiritual leaders.
But the current dearth of principled leadership on the political right is evident from Gallup's 2014 polling data on those who are Republicans or who lean Republican.
The top three 2014 admired women among conservatives are -- from first to third -- Condoleeza Rice (9 percent), Oprah Winfrey (6 percent), and Hillary Clinton (5 percent). Among "Republicans/Republican leaners" polled in 2014, the most admired man was Barack Obama (8 percent).
In other words, American conservatives are listing liberals as their current most admired people. That should be a wake-up call that a more ideologically pure brand of politically conservatism capable of clearly differentiating itself from liberalism is needed to lead the West out of its decay.
Sierra Rayne holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and writes regularly on environment, energy, and national security topics. He can be found on Twitter at @srayne_ca
