If the world got to vote, Obama would win easily

Forget the silly debate Monday night when Romney and President Obama went down the list of countries that "threaten" us.  If foreign policy means getting other countries to like you, and to like the United States, then President Obama is the winner on foreign policy hands down.

"But being President isn't a popularity contest!" Republicans will whine.  But do we really want to go back to the bad old days when Dubya made the rest of the world despise and distrust the United States?  

The truth is, Obama's foreign policy isn't much different than Dubya's, and Romney already signaled that he won't change much if he is elected.

So what makes the difference is how they perceive our intentions, our human qualities.  And countries mostly perceive the human face of American power and influence through our President.  The world wants Obama to be that face.  

US election: Most countries want to see Barack Obama re-elected

By James Orr

October 22, 2012 | Telegraph

The study, conducted on behalf of the BBC World Service, found that Mr Obama is seen as a stronger candidate by people in 20 of the 21 countries surveyed.

On average, 50 per cent of those questioned said they would prefer to see Mr Obama win the 2012 ticket, compared to just nine per cent who prefer Mr Romney.

France was found to be the most strongly pro-Obama nation, with 72 per cent wanting him to be re-elected and just two per cent preferring Mr Romney. In Britain, 65 per cent wanted to see Mr Obama re-elected, compared to just seven per cent for Mr Romney.

Pakistan was the only nation polled where the current president is not seen as the favoured candidate.  [You know, the country where the Taliban was born with the military's support and where bin Laden received safe haven - J.]  Fourteen per cent of Pakistanis said they wanted to see Mr Romney elected compared with 11 per cent for Mr Obama, although 75 per cent expressed no opinion at all.

Among other countries who strongly favour Mr Obama are Australia (67 per cent), Canada (66 per cent) and Nigeria (66 per cent).

The poll of 21,797 people was conducted by GlobeScan/PIPA between July 3 and September 3, this year.