More popular than John McCain or Pete Wilson or Richard Lugar or Thad Cochran or Kit Bond? More respected than Bob Dole or John Danforth or Warren Rudman or Don Nickles or Phil Graham or John Warner?
Hard to say better or worse than the next guy, but he was definitely seen as a great future Presidential candidate. He had youth, conservatism, and came from an important region of the country. While IN is not key electorially, the border states were battlegrounds.