Kerry would win if the world voted

Most French, Brits and Spaniards want John Kerry
to win next month’s presidential election – and they are
not alone. A co-ordinated survey of attitudes by leading
newspapers in ten nations has revealed a growing
hostility towards the Bush administration.

If global opinion polls counted, US President George
W. Bush would be voted out of office. In Australia,
Britain, Canada, France, Japan, Spain, South Korea and
Mexico, a majority of respondents to an
international survey on attitudes towards the
US said they hope to see Democrat John Kerry beat
President George W. Bush in next month’s US
presidential election. Sixty per cent of British voters
say they don’t like Bush, rising to a startling 77%
among those under 25. The rejection of Mr Bush is
strongest in France where 72% say they would back Mr
Kerry. The only exceptions to this trend are the Israelis
– who back Bush 2-1 over Kerry- and the Russians who,
despite their traditional anti-Americanism, recorded
unexpectedly favourable attitudes towards Bush in the
survey conducted in the immediate aftermath of the Beslan
tragedy.

In seven of the countries where the surveys were
conducted more people said their view of America had
worsened over the past two to three years. Most
respondents share a rejection of the Iraq invasion
and contempt for the Bush
administration. Seventy-three percent of British
respondents consider that the US influence on world
affairs is too big and only 34 percent believe
that the US is a model to be followed by other
countries. However, many of those polled separated
their feelings about the US government from their views
of the American people. Sixty-eight percent said they had
a favorable opinion of Americans. 

Only in Israel and South Korea did more people say
their view of the United States had improved
rather than worsened in the past two to three
years. 

The polls were conducted in Australia, Canada, France,
Britain, Spain, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Israel and
Russia, with results to be published in the each
country’s leading newspapers on 15
October.

After the third televised debate between US president
George W Bush and his democrat contender John
Kerry, a survey by US national daily USA today
showed Kerry ahead with one percent, 49 percent to
48 percent for Bush. But up to six percent of the
electorate remains undecided.

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