Time is currently conducting their search for 2009’s per  son of the year, and they are asking us to give our input on how influential their chosen candidates are.

Going through the list we find that #5 is none other than Maine Senator Olympia Snowe.  Currently, the public has given her a rating of 26 out of 100 on the “importance” scale, which would classify her as “sort of important”, I suppose.

Snowe has some pretty stiff competition, including heads of state like President Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel, business titans like Apple CEO Steve Jobs, and sports stars like Usain Bolt.  In other words, her chances of getting the cover are pretty thin.

The current ranking from the public is as follows:

• The Iranian Protesters – 92
• Apple CEO Steve Jobs – 49
• American President Barack Obama – 51
• Olympic Champion Usain Bolt – 42
• General Stanley McChrystal – 38
• Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake – 32
• German Chancellor Angela Merkel – 31
• Maine Senator Olympia Snowe – 26
• Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner – 26
• Somali Pirates – 20

The rationale given by Time for selecting Snowe as one of the ten finalists:

Pro: As the only Republican in the Senate open to dealmaking on health care (casting the sole GOP vote in favor of the Finance Committee bill), she has probably wielded more power over the shape of health reform than anyone else in the country.

Con: The Maine Senator may see her clout wane as the bill continues to run the gauntlet in the House and Senate.

Obviously it is a long shot – but these poll results don’t matter anyway.  Time routinely ignores the results of its online polls before making its selection – so the above results mean nothing.

Still – I highly doubt she will get the honor, but when was the last time somebody from Maine was even in the running for Time’s person of the year?

Popularity: 2% [?]