"here is one very different poll with crystal clear results"

[babylonsister]

http://usforeignpolicy.about.com/b/2008/09/18/world-prefers-obama.htm

World Prefers Obama
Keith Porter
Thursday September 18, 2008


Polls. Polls. Polls. Some many polls this time of year. Political junkies like me live for the latest update in the Gallup and Rasmussen daily tracking polls.

Well, here is one very different poll with crystal clear results. The BBC conducted a poll of 22,000 people in 22 different countries asking them who they prefer in the U.S. presidential race.

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) is the favorite in every country with a four to one margin over Senator John McCain (R-AZ) overall. According to the poll, "46% think that U.S. relations with the world would get better with Obama, 22% that relations would stay the same, and 7% that they would get worse. However, only 20% think relations would get better under McCain."

It should be noted however, "Despite the preference for an Obama victory in all countries, significant proportions in several said they do not favour either candidate, favour both equally or do not know which would be preferable. This was particularly the case in Russia, where 75% do not express a preference between the candidates, but also in Turkey (63%) and Egypt (61%)," according to the poll's report.

Interpreting these results at the Democracy Arsenal blog, Eric Auner writes, "Naturally, a certain crowd will loudly point to the fact that McCain is running for president to defend the interests of Americans, not to win a European popularity contest. But the last eight years clearly demonstrate that America needs allies. Considering the challenges we face, restoring America’s stature with the international community is one of the most important issues at stake in this election. Even John McCain thinks that restoring America’s image is important and has pledged to do so if elected. But what this poll clearly shows is that it is highly unlikely that he will be able to. Even if McCain tries to improve relations with our allies, any overtures that he makes would likely be greeted with skepticism since his foreign policy is almost identical to the Bush administration’s."