In a survey of citizens of 20 major developed countries, the United States was chosen as the most admired nation in the world in the 2009 Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index. The U.S. came in at number seven in 2008, behind Germany, France, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and Italy.

It’s because of Obama, of course — and this poll was completed before he got the Nobel. After that, we’re probably the most admired nation in the solar system.

From the GfK Roper press release announcement:

“What’s really remarkable is that in all my years studying national reputation, I have never seen any country experience such a dramatic change in its standing as we see for the United States in 2009,” explains Simon Anholt, NBI founder. “Despite recent economic turmoil, the U.S. actually gained significant ground. The results suggest that the new U.S. administration has been well received abroad and the American electorate’s decision to vote in President Obama has given the United States the status of the world’s most admired country.”

In response to the announcement, Republican Sen. Jim Demint of South Carolina told the Lake Secession, S.C., Argus-Penny Saver, “That just proves the Republican Party’s position on health care reform is the right one,” he said “If we can win the admiration of the world without implementing a public insurance option, and with 49 million uninsured or under-insured Americans in the population, we don’t need health care reform. We’ve already won the popularity contest!”

Editor’s note: We have been unable to establish the provenance of that last quote, but we liked it, so we ran it anyway.