Global poll shows most choose Obama

A poll conducted for the BBC World Service by the international polling firm GlobeScan showed that most people around the world want Barack Obama to be the next U.S. president.

The survey of 22,531 adults across 22 countries showed that on average 49% prefer Obama to 12% for Republican rival John McCain. In addition, pluralities in all 22 countries polled chose Obama over McCain, albeit by differing margins.

An interesting caveat is the notable percentage of those polled did not prefer either candidate (40%). Also of the 22 countries involved in the poll, three- Panama, Mexico, Brazil- were from Latin America.

The survey also revealed what people thought on the future of U.S. global relations:

In 17 of the 22 nations, people think America's relations with the rest of the world are likely to improve if Obama becomes president. If McCain wins, the most common view in 19 of the 22 countries is that relations will stay about the same.

On average, 46 per cent say relations would improve under Obama, 22 per cent say they'd stay about the same and just seven per cent think they'd worsen.

The BBC poll emulated the results of a previous survey carried out in the spring by the Pew Research Center. Respondents in Brazil and Mexico preferred the Democratic candidate by margins of 23% and 11%, respectively.

In the end, it will be the voting citizens of the U.S. who will choose the next president. Recent polls show a virtual dead heat between Obama and McCain.

Image- ABC News
Sources- The Latin Americanist, AHN, Canada.com, Reuters, IHT, BBC News