Foreign Policy commissioned Gallup to conduct a worldwide poll about the U.S. presidential election as part of its “If the World Could Vote” series.
(Editor’s note: It can’t; at least, not in American elections.) That Barack Obama was widely favored is hardly surprising; Democrats always do better in these things. It was, however, a bit surprising to see John McCain shut out entirely, as seen on the map above.
The country-by-country numerical breakdowns look somewhat more favorable for McCain:
The trouble, however, is that none of the “Top 10 Pro-McCain Countries” were actually pro McCain. Five prefered McCain to Obama but they all thought the election made no difference. And four of the countries actually prefered Obama — just by lower margins than every other country!
Fortunately for McCain, the country in which he’s faring best (not shown on the chart above) is the United States. Unfortunately, if the RealClearPolitics poll of polls is any indication — and it has been in recent years — he’s trailing by an average of 7.8 points in the national head-to-head polling with ten days to go and has an even more daunting task in the decisive Electoral College.
James Joyner is managing editor of the Atlantic Council. Graphics courtesy Foreign Policy.