View from afar

According to this article in the Guardian yesterday, “People around the world are pinning their hopes on Barack Obama in next month’s presidential election”. Polls in various countries revealed big majorities in favour of Obama – most notably Switzerland, not usually regarded as a bastion of socialism, where 83% preferred Obama, against 7% for McCain.

The surveys also showed that “Only a minority in the countries surveyed describe relations with the US as friendly”, a legacy of the Bush years that US voters will hopefully bear in mind come November. Though of course that information might influence the section of the electorate that McCain is appealing to in a way exactly contrary to the expectation of European leftists like me.