View of US worsening: poll

[cal04]

AMERICA'S reputation around the world is hurting, according to a series of co-ordinated polls released today from 10 countries, including many of the US' closest allies, such as Australia.In seven of the countries where the surveys commissioned by major newspapers were conducted, more people said their view of America had worsened over the past two to three years than improved. That question was only asked in nine countries.

By big margins, those questioned said the war in Iraq did not aid the global fight against terrorism.And in eight out of 10 nations, those questioned said - often in landslide proportions - that they hoped to see Democrat John Kerry beat US President George W. Bush in next month's election.

Mr Bush won backing from a majority of respondents only in Russia and Israel. Not all questions were asked in every country.On average, 57 per cent of those questioned said their opinions of America had worsened over the past two to three years, compared to 20 per cent who said their view had improved.

In Australia, 54 per cent wanted to see Mr Kerry as president while 28 per cent favoured Mr Bush.The polls were conducted in Australia, Canada, France, Britain, Spain, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Israel and Russia, with results to be published in the participating newspapers tomorrow.


more
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11079685%255E1702,00.html

[sonicx]

1. Australia likes Kerry...

but they re-elect Howard?

[Steelangel]

2. Indeed. That is quite odd.. Go figure.

[Andrushka]

3. Weird, ain't it?

I'd say there's a good deal of people who voted Howard in but are against the war and realise * must go. I work with one - he voted Liberal (Howard's party - I have hardly spoken to my work mate all week!), but he thinks the war was/is wrong and absolutely hates the Whining Chimp.

[sushi]

9. Because Howard is good

at running the economy. People vote with their pockets in mind.

[darkism]

4. hmm...

"Mr Bush won backing from a majority of respondents only in Russia and Israel."

Somehow I'm not surprised, what with Russia trying to exploit the school hostage thing just like bushCo exploited 9/11 as an excuse to edge closer to despotism, and Israel being in bed with the US...

At least everybody else in the world can see what's really going on here.

[yardwork]

7. Given the situation in Russia, I am even more skeptical of their polls

than I am of U.S. polls, and that is very skeptical.

[Bozita]

5. CBC's "The National" is covering this in its broadcast tonight

from the program's daily email:

Mark Kelley is in Flint, Michigan tonight, a rust belt town that is
still leaning toward re-electing George Bush. Later in the programme,
we'll look at how people outside the United States view the election
with reports from Adrienne Arsenault in Israel, Nick Spicer in Russia
and Paul Workman in France.

[Bandit]

17. Flint Michigan is leaning towards Bush*??????

That statement floors me. It makes absolutely no sense what-so-ever.

[goforit]

6. Gooo Frodo.

[gatorboy]

8. YOU FORGOT POLAND!!!

Sorry! Couldn't resist! :D

[leftchick]

10. No surprise who the * supporters are....

<The only exceptions to this trend are the Israelis - who back Bush 2-1 over Kerry and see the US as their security umbrella - and the Russians who, despite their traditional anti-Americanism, recorded unexpectedly favourable attitudes towards the US in the survey conducted in the immediate aftermath of the Beslan tragedy>

[depakid]

11. Welcome to the 21st Century

Ask yourself, what will the 22d Century look like- if you dare.

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. You can get to the articles fro all 10 papers here

http://www.guardian.co.uk/flash/0,5860,1327656,00.html

(requires Flash)
Le Monde (France):

As for rightwingers, 70% of supporters of President Jacques Chirac's governing UMP party are for Kerry, as well as 74% of those who back the centre-right UDF party.

George Bush gets terrible scores in every category surveyed except one: the supporters of Jean-Marie Le Pen's extreme right National Front party, which came second in the 2002 French presidential election. Forty per cent of those supporters declared themselves in favour of President Bush's re-election, while 50% favour John Kerry. Mr Bush is popular only among the few sectors of the French population that favour strict authority and lean towards xenophobia.

This is also the only group that is more supportive of the US intervention in Iraq: 38% of FN supporters consider that it was the right thing to do, compared with only 18% of the total population surveyed.
...
However, Mr Bush's marked unpopularity in France does not mean that the French dislike Americans: 72% of those surveyed said they still had a high opinion of the American people. The Sofres poll clearly indicates an ability to consider issues separately and avoid succumbing to anti-Americanism.

Reforma(Mexico):

According to the poll, 83% think invading Iraq was wrong. The poll was conducted before the first presidential debate, but Kerry's depiction of the war as a "colossal error" may have found an echo in Mexican public opinion. Six out of 10 respondents said the war in Iraq had contributed nothing in the fight against terrorism.

These perceptions have hit Bush's ratings. A majority of Mexicans - 56%, to be specific - said their opinion of the president had deteriorated over the last two or three years. Only 23% said they had a favourable opinion of him. By contrast, 51% expressed a favourable opinion about Americans in general.

Asahi Shimbun (Japan):

In general, as the latest public opinion poll shows, most Japanese hold a favourable impression of the United States. Close to 90% of the respondents said the Japan-US relationship was important, while 74% said they "liked" or "somewhat liked" the United States. This concurred with a an Asahi Shimbun poll in April 2002 where a high number of respondents said they either felt "a great deal of" or "some" closeness to the United States.
...
Specific US policies, particularly ones perceived as overly aggressive, bring about a more complex appraisal among Japanese. Only 16% in the latest poll said "the Iraq war was right". More than four times as many respondents - 71% - said "the war was wrong".

The Iraq war was also a factor in why many Japanese dislike the US president, George W Bush. The support levels were 30% for Bush and 51% for Senator John Kerry.

The Guardian (UK):

There is a growing strain of hostility towards the United States among British voters, fuelled by a strong personal antipathy towards President George Bush, according to a special Guardian/ICM poll.

It is so strong that Britons would back the Democrat challenger John Kerry against Mr Bush by a margin of more than two to one if they had a vote in next month's presidential election. More than 60% of voters say they do not like Mr Bush, a hostility which peaks at 77% among those under 25.

It appears to be personal because the public draws a sharp distinction between its view of the United States' political leadership and Americans in general. The British are quite clear that they still like Americans as a people; only 21% say they do not like them.

Yeah, I think there's a pattern there ...

[sweetheart]

13. Yes, the articles are different

The guardian one is more coherent than the australian one in
the original post, and includes some different data. The guardian
says that The only exceptions to this trend are the Israelis - who back Bush 2-1 over Kerry and see the US as their security umbrella - and the Russians who, despite their traditional anti-Americanism, recorded unexpectedly favourable attitudes towards the US in the survey conducted in the immediate aftermath of the Beslan tragedy


On average 68% of those polled say they have a favourable opinion of Americans.
This also is disturbing, as it suggests 32% do not.

The rejection of Mr Bush is strongest in France where 72% say they would back Mr Kerry but it is also very strong in traditionally very pro-American South Korea, where fears of a pre-emptive US strike against North Korea have translated into 68% support for Mr Kerry.

This also contradicts the south korean suggestion of the australian
article.

I suggest to read:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/viewsofamerica/story/0,15221,1327568,00.html

I put this one on its own thread, but the moderator does not seem
to think that the articles are different, and calls it a dupe.
Fine, then one thread per "idea" and not per published article
sounds a bit odd.

[Moderator]

14. Kick

Kick

[Moderator]

15. Kick again

to avoid duplicates ( This has been posted four or five times )

[moondust]

16. The wisdom of the world

should not be taken lightly.

[Moderator]

18. and another

<sigh>

[Bossy Monkey]

19. Here's the AP

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VIEWS_OF_AMERICA?SITE=SCCOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Moderator]

20. and another kick

dang this has a lot of duplicates.

:kick: