THE WORLD SUPPORTS OBAMA
November 2008

Only American citizens can vote in US presidential elections, which is a good thing for John McCain. If the election were held overseas the Republican presidential nominee would not stand a chance because the world, including South Africa, wants Barack Obama.

This is the finding of a Reader's Digest scientific survey of some 17 000 people conducted in 17 countries on every continent.

In the poll, people were asked for their views on the US presidential candidates, America's image in the world and the most important issues facing the world. The starkest result is the overwhelming support internationally for Obama.

In all nations surveyed outside the United States, Obama led McCain - and by huge margins. These ranged from an 84 percent margin (the Netherlands) to 35 percentage points (India and Russia).

South Africa was typical of this trend: 70 percent of those surveyed would like Obama to become the 44th president of the United States, with McCain receiving only 26 percent.

"I would speculate that Obama appeals to South Africans because he captures some of the flavour of the hope and positive change that this country savoured in the mid-1990s," says political commentator Richard Calland of public interest organisation, IDASA. "There might even be something of a Mandela factor at play."

Nevertheless Calland remains highly dubious about the readiness of Americans to elect their first black president: "I fear that many swing U.S voters may be disguising their latent conservatism and that come polling day they'll be unable to vote for a black president."

Several factors appear to be at play in this one-sided foreign preference for Obama. The first is the vast unpopularity of President George W Bush, widely perceived outside the United States to be a president who prefers imposing his will on the world to engaging in compromise. As a staunch supporter of that war, and strong member of Bush's political party, McCain symbolizes the status quo, and an era that the world wants to leave behind.

"Obama represents something new on the U.S political scene - he took a principled stance against the Iraq war and his campaign was funded by grassroots financing," says Professor Adam Habib, political analyst and deputy vice chancellor at the University of Johannesburg. "For an international citizenry tired of the disasters of the last eight years, Obama is a breath of fresh air."

"The media has played a huge role in portraying Obama in a positive light and as something of a saviour, with glowing messianic photographs of him dominating covers of magazines like TIME," says human rights activist Rhoda Kadalie.

Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya says: "Maybe the ANC needs to look across the ocean and be inspired by this little-known senator from Illinois who believed in something and turned his vision into a powerful political movement that spanned races, ages and interest groups - and earned him the Democratic Party's presidential nomination."

Back to Press Releases