World wants Bush out of the White House: Poll
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-09 08:29

The world wants U.S. President Bush out of the White House, according to a poll released on Wednesday that shows in 30 of 35 countries people preferred Democrat candidate John Kerry.

U.S. President George W. Bush waves as he walks away from his Marine One helicopter, September 8, 2004. [Reuters]

Kerry was particularly favored in traditionally strong U.S. allies and beat Bush on average by more than a two-to-one margin, 46 percent to 20 percent, the survey by GlobeScan Inc, a global research firm, and the University of Maryland, said.

The survey of attitudes around the world contrasts with U.S. polls that have shown the American electorate closely divided and that Bush has been gaining momentum since the Republican convention this month.

Bush launched a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq last year over the objections of many governments, including allies, and the first U.S. pre-emptive war angered many people around the world. Kerry has said he will pursue stronger international alliances if he wins the presidency.

"Only one in five want to see Bush re-elected. Though he is not as well known, Kerry would win handily if the people of the world were to elect the U.S. president," Steven Kull, director of the university's program on international policy attitudes, said.

The only countries where Bush was preferred in the poll of 34,330 people that was conducted mainly in July and August were the Philippines, Nigeria and Poland. India and Thailand were divided.

Asked how the foreign policy of Bush has affected their feelings toward the United States, a majority or plurality of respondents in 30 countries said it made them feel worse about America, while in three countries more respondents said they felt better.

The survey's margin of error was plus or minus 2.3 to 5 percentage points.

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