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More fun from The Economist: for a conservative, capitalist magazine, its readership is showing a surprising love for reputed liberal Marxist Barack Obama. The Economist has created a fun online poll, the "Global Electoral College," where they apply the U.S. Electoral College to the entire globe and count votes by country. It's a winner-take-all system: if a majority of online voters from Nigeria prefer McCain (ho ho ho), McCain gets all of Nigeria's electoral votes.
The poll results so far (as of 2o08.10.04 17:15 CDT):
- McCain: 16
- Obama: 8375
Every other country in the poll prefers Obama, and usually prefers Obama big time. Obama is winning all but two of his countries by over 60%, which is generally considered a landslide.
Now as Lorin Larsen at KJAM is learning, online polls are more fun than meaningful (and when his Republican friends keep losing them, that should be comforting).
Is Obama's big lead just all those darn Web-savvy Obamaniac college kids? Is it every other country in the world trying to trick us so they can pounce and dismantle the American empire? Or could it be that at least several thousand relatively intelligent Economist readers take an honest look at the choice before us Americans and conclude that Barack Obama would make a darn good President?
This result doesn't surprise me. I think that:
ReplyDelete(1) Most of the world views the U.S. as an aggressor nation because of the actions of the Republicans over the past eight years;
(2) Most of the world believes that the U.S. would be more generous to them under a Democratic President than under a Republican President;
(3) The election of a Black President would send the world a signal that the U.S. is overcoming its racist past.
That said, when I cast my vote on election day, it will be for the President of the U.S., not for the President of the World.
As often is the case, Stan, I'm with you! Country first: we're here to pick our President, not the world's. But it can't hurt to pick a President for whom the rest of the world has increased respect.
ReplyDeleteDon't count out white middle America, the elderly and a surge in young Republican voters. Surveys ask "if the election were held today, who would you support?", but the question should be "are you actually going to vote?" Many who are surveyed never vote or don't take the time to vote, so factor in the "lazy" factor on November 4th, then compare it to the actual voters who never miss an election. That tightens up the race and gives McCain a slight advantage.
ReplyDeleteI don't give a rip who any country outside the US thinks we should elect President. Actually, the fact that most of the world prefers Obama should make us rethink whether he is actually the best candidate to look out for the US first and foremost. He won't BTW. He will test the prevailing global winds, rely on the corrupt UN, and generally be a disaster. This poll is ridiculous as most foreign countries do not want a strong US, so if they want Obama, they think he will be the weaker of the two candidates.
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