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Leno named most popular dinner companion

Condoleezza Rice was the top women dinner guest on Esquire’s poll

Jay Leno
Jay Leno beat out Bill Clinton, George Clooney and President Bush.
Mark J. Terrill / AP file
updated 10:35 p.m. ET June 12, 2006

NEW YORK - When Esquire asked men who they’d invite from a list of 14 notable women to a dinner party, they chose Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice — over such stars as Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Simpson.

Rice was followed by Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie in a national survey published in the magazine’s July issue. The 29-question survey, conducted online by Beta Research Corp., polled 1,083 randomly selected men aged 25 and older.

Asked which famous man they’d invite to dinner, 37 percent picked “Tonight” host Jay Leno. Bill Clinton placed second, trailed by George Clooney and President Bush.

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Asked who they most admired, the respondents chose former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Clinton and Bill Gates, with Bush fourth.

The president did, however, place first in another category: least admirable man in America, with 15 percent of the vote. Clinton came in second, with 8 percent.

According to the survey, 85 percent said they’d rather be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company than win “American Idol.”

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