Politics

Out of context: Reply #3580

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  • ukit0

    All 22 countries in a BBC World Service poll would prefer Democratic nominee Barack Obama elected US president instead of his Republican rival John McCain. Obama is preferred by a four to one margin on average across the 22,000 people polled.

    The margin in favour of Obama ranges from just 9% in India to 82% in Kenya. On average 49% prefer Obama to 12% preferring McCain. Nearly four in 10 do not take a position.

    The poll also explored the expected impact of the US election. In 17 of the 22 countries surveyed the most common view is that, if Barack Obama is elected president, America’s relations with the rest of the world are likely to get better. If John McCain is elected, the most common view in 19 countries is that relations will stay about the same as they are now.

    On average 46 percent think that US relations with the world would get better with Obama, 22 percent that relations would stay the same, and 7 percent that they would get worse. However only 20 percent think relations would get better under McCain. The largest number – 37 percent – think relations under a McCain presidency would stay the same and 16 percent think they would get worse.
    The countries most optimistic that an Obama presidency would improve relations are America’s NATO allies - Canada (69%), France (62%), Germany (61%), United Kingdom (54%), Italy (64%) - as well as Australia (62%) and the African countries Kenya (87%) and Nigeria (71%).

    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 percent do not express a preference between the candidates, but also in Turkey (63%) and Egypt (61%).

    When asked whether the election as US president of Barack Obama, an African-American man, would “fundamentally change” their perception of the United States, 46 percent said it would while 27 percent said that it would not.
    The US public was polled separately and Americans also believe an Obama presidency would improve US relations with the world more than a McCain presidency, with 46 percent of Americans expecting relations to be improved with Obama’s election and 30 percent with McCain’s.

    The results are drawn from a survey of 22,531 adult citizens across 22 countries conducted for the BBC World Service by the international polling firm GlobeScan together with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland. A parallel poll surveyed 1,000 US adult citizens. GlobeScan coordinated fieldwork between July 8, 2008 and August 27, 2008.

    • BA HA HA HA! Those polls have to be even more skewed than the US versions.
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    • How can they be...they aren't weighted, these are just the raw numbers.ukit
    • Raw numbers? The polling process in 3rd world countries? The logistics?
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    • Yeah, JazX. They love our current Admin we have here now... How out of touch are you?
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