This article lists international opinion poll

Opinion poll

An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...

s taken in various countries around the world during 2008 relating to the United States presidential election, 2008

United States presidential election, 2008

The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...

. Most polls measured foreign preference for Democratic candidate Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 and Republican candidate John McCain

John McCain

John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....

. For international reaction to the election, see International reaction to the United States presidential election, 2008

International reaction to the United States presidential election, 2008

This article lists international reaction to the 2008 United States presidential election, in addition to Barack Obama's election as the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008 and his inauguration on January 20, 2009....

.

Summary

Most polls during the 2008 election year showed greater global support for Senator Barack Obama over Senator John McCain. A poll for the BBC World Service

BBC World Service

The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...

 conducted in 22 countries found Obama favored in each one by varying margins, with an overall average of 49% preference for Obama, 12% for McCain, and 40% with no preference. Similarly, a 73 country Gallup poll found that 24% of those polled favored Obama compared with 7% who favored McCain; 69% of those surveyed had no opinion. An international Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...

survey also reported more support for Obama than McCain in all 16 foreign countries polled, though not in the U.S. itself. However, certain countries did prefer McCain to Obama in some polls, including Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

, Laos

Laos

Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

 by a small margin, and the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 (which is in contrast to the capital Manila

Metro Manila

Metropolitan Manila , the National Capital Region , or simply Metro Manila, is the metropolitan region encompassing the City of Manila and its surrounding areas in the Philippines...

).

A poll done by the Pew Global Attitudes Project investigated whether other countries believed American foreign policy "will change for the better" with a new president. Although majorities held this belief in several major European and African countries, 67% of Japanese

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 respondents said it would not change very much and more Jordanians and Egyptians believed American foreign policy would get worse than better. In terms of confidence in the candidates, the Pew poll found most but not all countries had more confidence in Obama to do the right thing in global affairs. In several countries a majority of those polled said they were following the campaign closely, including Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

, and the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

A global non-scientific Internet vote conducted by The Economist

The Economist

The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...

, with 52,000 respondents, indicated that Obama was favored over McCain by a vast majority of poll respondents, with over 44,000 votes for Obama, or roughly 85% (there were no third party or abstain options).

Multi-country polls

Country	Candidates	YouGov/ Daily Telegraph May 27-29	Reader's Digest/ Synovate Omnibus June 2-July 7	BBC/ GlobeScan July 28-Aug 27	Gallup May-Oct	Harris/ France24/IHT Oct 1-13	Various Oct
Argentina	Obama McCain	-	-	-	31% 6%
Armenia	Obama McCain	-	-	-	43% 10%
Australia	Obama McCain	-	76% 10%	67% 13%	64% 14%
Austria	Obama McCain	-	-	-	58% 10%
Bangladesh	Obama McCain	-	-	-	19% 8%
Belgium	Obama McCain	-	-	-	64% 6%
62% 8%
Benin	Obama McCain	-	-	-	20% 2%
Bolivia	Obama McCain	-	-	-	30% 8%
Botswana	Obama McCain	-	-	-	62% 6%
Brazil	Obama McCain	-	78% 11%	51% 8%	-
Burkina Faso	Obama McCain	-	-	-	50% 7%
Burundi	Obama McCain	-	-	-	61% 8%
Cambodia	Obama McCain	-	-	-	4% 9%
Cameroon	Obama McCain	-	-	-	44% 7%
Canada	Obama McCain	-	64% 14%	66% 14%	67% 22%
70% 14%
Chile	Obama McCain	-	-	-	43% 9%
Mainland China	Obama McCain	-	-	35% 15%	12% 5%
Colombia	Obama McCain	-	-	-	38% 16%
Costa Rica	Obama McCain	-	-	-	44% 9%
Denmark	Obama McCain	-	-	-	69% 8%
Egypt	Obama McCain	-	-	26% 13%	-
El Salvador	Obama McCain	-	-	-	24% 14%
Estonia	Obama McCain	-	-	-	22% 17%
Ethiopia	Obama McCain	-	-	-	76% 6%
Finland	Obama McCain	-	71% 13%	-	54% 14%
Early Modern France	Obama McCain	65% 8%	75% 10%	69% 6%	64% 4%	78% 1%	68% 5%
Georgia (country)	Obama McCain	-	-	-	15% 23%
Germany	Obama McCain	67% 6%	61% 26%	65% 7%	62% 10%	72% 5%
Ghana	Obama McCain	-	-	-	31% 13%
Guatemala	Obama McCain	-	-	-	27% 11%
Honduras	Obama McCain	-	-	-	27% 9%
India	Obama McCain	-	85% 7%	24% 15%	7% 2%
Indonesia	Obama McCain	-	67% 17%	46% 11%	-
Republic of Ireland	Obama McCain	-	-	-	67% 19%
Italy	Obama McCain	70% 15%	-	76% 12%	56% 6%	66% 12%
Japan	Obama McCain	-	-	-	66% 15%
61% 13%
Kenya	Obama McCain	-	-	87% 5%	89% 3%
Kuwait (nationals for Gallup)	Obama McCain	-	-	-	32% 12%
Laos	Obama McCain	-	-	-	24% 25%
Latvia	Obama McCain	-	-	-	23% 15%
Lebanon	Obama McCain	-	-	39% 27%	45% 18%
Liberia	Obama McCain	-	-	-	45% 27%
Lithuania	Obama McCain	-	-	-	13% 13%
Madagascar	Obama McCain	-	-	-	47% 28%
Mali	Obama McCain	-	-	-	70% 16%
Mauritania	Obama McCain	-	-	-	68% 3%
Mexico	Obama McCain	-	70% 25%	54% 16%	27% 9%
46% 13%
Netherlands	Obama McCain	-	92% 8%	-	74% 10%
Nicaragua	Obama McCain	-	-	-	23% 7%
Nigeria	Obama McCain	-	-	66% 11%	23% 11%
Norway	Obama McCain	-	-	-	71% 13%
Pakistan	Obama McCain	-	-	-	5% 5%
Palestinian territories	Obama McCain	-	-	-	33% 11%
Panama	Obama McCain	-	-	43% 15%	35% 10%
Paraguay	Obama McCain	-	-	-	26% 11%
Peru	Obama McCain	-	-	-	31% 11%
Philippines	Obama McCain	-	-	46% 22%	20% 28%
Poland	Obama McCain	-	65% 19%	38% 13%	43% 24%
43% 26%
Russia	Obama McCain	31% 24%	52% 17%	18% 7%	-
Rwanda	Obama McCain	-	-	-	57% 12%
Saudi Arabia	Obama McCain	-	-	-	50% 19%
Senegal	Obama McCain	-	-	-	54% 15%
Sierra Leone	Obama McCain	-	-	-	68% 18%
Singapore	Obama McCain	-	-	29% 7%	21% 11%
South Africa	Obama McCain	-	70% 26%	-	-
South Korea	Obama McCain	-	-	-	50% 24%
Spain	Obama McCain	-	76% 13%	-	49% 6%	68% 8%
Sweden	Obama McCain	-	-	-	64% 6%
Switzerland	Obama McCain	-	-	-	-
83% 7%
Republic of China	Obama McCain	-	81% 6%	-	-
Tanzania	Obama McCain	-	-	-	76% 9%
Togo	Obama McCain	-	-	-	38% 6%
Turkey	Obama McCain	-	-	26% 11%	22% 8%
United Arab Emirates	Obama McCain	-	-	46% 13%	-
Uganda	Obama McCain	-	-	-	85% 8%
	Obama McCain	49% 14%	70% 14%	59% 9%	60% 15%	48% 11%	64% 15%
Uruguay	Obama McCain	-	-	-	39% 7%
Zambia	Obama McCain	-	-	-	47% 12%
Zimbabwe	Obama McCain	-	-	-	41% 15%

Argentina

A poll taken on August 26 by Ibarómetro reported that 53.2% of those polled preferred Obama against 8.8% for McCain; 38% were unsure.

France

A poll conducted on September 2-3 by TNS Sofres/Logica for the French-American Foundation

French-American Foundation

The French-American Foundation is the principal non-governmental organization linking France and the United States at leadership levels and across the full range of the French-American relationship....

 and Fondation Robert Schuman

Robert Schuman

Robert Schuman was a noted Luxembourgish-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat and an independent political thinker and activist...

 found that 80% of the French polled hoped for an Obama victory, 8% for a McCain victory, 7% for neither, and 5% without an opinion. A later poll done on October 10-11 by BVA for La Tribune

La Tribune

La Tribune is a French financial newspaper that was founded in 1985. The paper is in tabloid format and has a circulation of around 78,000.- External links :**...

found an even higher 86% who preferred to see Obama elected, with 6% hoping the same for McCain and 8% not expressing an opinion.

The day after the election, a poll conducted by CSA for Le Parisien

Le Parisien

Le Parisien is a French daily newspaper covering both international and national news, and local news of Paris and its suburbs. It was established as Le Parisien libéré by Émilien Amaury in 1944, and the name was changed to the current one in 1986...

found that 84% of those polled were satisfied with the election of Obama, while 6% were dissatisfied and 10% expressed no opinion.

Germany

During the Democratic primary campaign, 43% of Germans supported Obama and 39% supported challenger Senator Hillary Clinton according to a poll by Forsa for Stern

Stern (magazine)

Stern is a weekly news magazine published in Germany. It was founded in 1948 by Henri Nannen, and is currently published by Gruner + Jahr, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann. In the first quarter of 2006, its print run was 1.019 million copies and it reached 7.84 million readers according to...

. In terms of the general election, a Forsa poll carried out on August 20-21 found 74% of respondents would vote for Obama, 11% for McCain, and 15% other or not sure.

Israel

The Rabin Center for Israel Studies commissioned a poll by TNS Teleseker in the months before the election, which found that 46.4% of those polled supported McCain, 34% supported Obama, and 18.6% were undecided.

Palestinian territories

A poll by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion taken September 1-10 reported 33.5% of respondents favoring McCain, 27.7% Obama, 30.4% neither, and 8.3% unsure.