Edwards says Obama can restore America's image in the world

In his landmark endorsement of Senator Obama in Grand Rapids, Michigan today, former Presidential candidate John Edwards emphasised the importance of restoring Americas moral authority and image in the world. The evidence collected on this website from dozens of countries demonstrates that Senator Obama has the backing of world public opinion and, if he governs as President according to the ideals that have excited us in his campaign, then we believe he will indeed be able to pull down the dividing wall that Edwards talks about:

"All across America, there are walls. There are walls dividing the way things are and the One America that all of us want to see... There's also a wall that's divided our image in the world. The America as the beacon of hope is behind that wall. And all the world sees now is a bully. They see Iraq, Guantanamo, secret prison and government that argues that water boarding is not torture. This is not OK. That wall has to come down for the sake of our ideals and our security. We can change this. We can change it. Yes we can. If we stand together, we can change it... [This is] about the one America we're going to build... One America, that rebuilds our moral authority in the world, not just with our strength, but with our soul. One America, where the walls will fall, when the war in Iraq ends in 2009... when Barack Obama is president of the United States of America." (This starts 9mins 30secs into the YouTube video, here a transcript):

Swing to Obama among English language students

Obama has repeatedly topped online and offline polls, many of which we've profiled before. Some interesting new data comes from English, baby!, the most visited website for English language students with 750,000 members. It has run a series of polls related to the US Presidential elections. The first, in June 2007, gave Senator Clinton a 32% lead over the other candidates. However a second poll, in April 2008, showed a dramatic shift to Senator Obama, who finished 20% ahead after 4345 votes were cast. He is even further ahead in their third, and ongoing, poll: at the moment he leads at 61%, compared to 31% for Senator Clinton and 8% for John McCain. English, baby! co-founder, John Hayden explains: "It's been interesting to watch opinion change. The Clinton name has been very recognizable throughout the world but Obama's message seems to be taking hold." On the website's forums, individual members can be observed changing their opinions. Hakimi, a 32-year-old user from Yemen started a forum thread about Hillary Clinton. But last January, he was won over by Obama. "This morning I heard Barack Obama speaking about the results in New Hampshire...He has the potential to be an incredible leader that could do truly amazing things..." English, baby! aims to teach English in an innovative MTV-style, virtually immersing students in American culture and conversational English.

Brazilian blog for Obama

A few months ago Brazil topped our Facebook polls, with 71% of Brazilians backing Obama. Now a Brazilian, Miguel Leonel dos Santos, has started a blog about the election at:BarackObamaPresidente.blogspot.com. Miguel writes: "Barack Obama is the hope for change in the U.S., and will not only promote friendly relations with people around the world, but also improve the economic conditions of the American people. As Obama said, "the time for change has come" and we have faith in the words of this Senator who has wonderful ideas and powerful ideals." Here's a YouTube clip of Miguel and friends cheering for Obama in a typically exuberant Brazilian way.

US Media coverage of Obama's international appeal

The US media is beginning to pick up the story of how popular Senator Obama is around the world. The New York Times recently covered the Bridges for Obama photo campaign (which staged photos in Tokyo, Kiev and Sao Paulo yestarday), and the Washington Post covers us today on it's campaign trail blog. One commentor puts it well: "For many people in the international community, Obama represents the opportunity of the U.S. to lead by example and inspiring countries to take action, instead of bullying them into submission. It is one of the reasons why Obama won a landslide victory among Democrats abroad, and why diplomats from throughout the world tend to speak so positively about Obama." Another American responds: "If the rest of the world sees Obama in a more positive light.... considering our horrific international image (thanks to George Bush), obviously this would greatly improve our image world-wide. Afterall, we are NOT an island and cannot exist without the alliance of other countries. We have to stop thinking so isolated and small... it is this very notion that got us into this mess in the first place."

Kiwis prefer Obama in poll

"A poll of New Zealanders asking who they would like to see run against Republican John McCain in the US election revealed 47 per cent chose Obama, compared to 31 per cent supporting Hillary Clinton. A further 22 per cent were unable to offer an opinion. The telephone survey involved 750 people aged 18 and over, interviewed between April 24 and May 1... The poll found National and Labour voters [the more right and left wing parties respectively] recorded almost identical results with National voters preferring Obama 44% to 33% and Labour voters preferring him 47% to 33%." (New Zealand Press Agency)

Videos of French enthusiasm for Obama

We have covered in detail the vast and growing support for Senator Obama in France, from dozens of Facebook groups to a formal support committee involving dozens of senior French politicians and opinion leaders. Here are two videos demonstrating this phenomenon. The first is a powerful personal video which traces the Franco-American relationship from the close ties in the 18th century through to the more recent disagreements over Iraq, concluding with a hopeful clip of Obama being interviewed by a French TV station, pointing to a return to the past friendship between the two countries. The second video shows French and American expats rallying for Obama on the Pont d'Avignon as part of the global Bridges for Obama initiative which many World Wants Obama Coalition members are involved in (The New York times recently wrote about this).

LIttle indication of international enthusiasm for other candidates

These days if you Google for "X for Obama" where "X" can be the name of pretty much any country or people group, you'll find that this is at least one, and sometimes many, spontaneous initiatives at community organising in support of his Presidential bid. Try the same test with Clinton or McCain and you almost certainly won't find anything (though there were a few of international support groups for Ron Paul). This fact, perhaps more than all the opinion polls and articles that back it up, is proof that Senator Obama has a global appeal that goes far beyond any other Presidential candidate. But if you do know of any evidence of international support for the other candidates, or of international criticism of Senator Obama, please do post it here for the sake of balance.

Action: Subtitling Obama videos in many languages

A phenomenal initiative is underway to produced subtitled Obama videos with captions in many languages. Languages represented so far include Chinese, French, German, Korean, Spanish, Vietnamese. The archive of videos is on YouTube and there are more formats on the main website (including ones optimised for ipods): CaptionedMediaForObama.com. Michael Novak, who is coordinating the translation effort, asks for any members of the World Wants Obama Coalition or readers of this blog who would like to help with translation to get in touch. They particularly want Arabic and Urdu, but would welcome any languages (bar Spanish, which is well covered). The process is quite easy, Michael writes: "We have some great technology that can caption almost automatically, and the karaoke format is unique on the net," so if you might be able to help email him on info@captionedmediaforobama.com

Action: Phone US voters to explain global support for Obama

UPDATE (23 April): Don't be disheartened by Pennsylvania and consider making calls to the states due to vote in May. The Obama campaign writes: "In a state where we trailed by more than 25 points just a couple weeks ago, you helped close the gap to a slimmer margin than most thought possible... The only surprising result from Pennsylvania is that in a state considered tailor-made for Hillary Clinton... Barack Obama was able to improve his standing among key voter groups since the Ohio primary. For example, among white voters, Obama narrowed the gap with Clinton by six points. Among voters over 60, he nearly cut the gap in half."

There are just 378 delegates left to elect, and because Obama is leading by at least 150 delegates, he only needs to win 30% of the vote in the remaining primaries to maintain his lead in the popular vote. The only way he could lose the nomination is if the 800 or so superdelegates go against the popular vote. However, the stronger Obama's support in the remaining primaries, the less likely it is that the Superdelegates will do this. Global opinion itself is also a factor many Superdelegates might bear in mind. Therefore the next month will be the most critical part of the nomination campaign, and we can support Senator Obama directly by making phone calls and more generally by organising in our communities around the world to creatively demonstrating the extent and reasons for Obama's global support.

The Obama campaign website enables volunteers to make campaign calls. All you have to do is decide which state or demographic group (students, women etc.) you would like to talk to, login and then get calling the numbers you are assigned! There is some general advice on making calls. If you use Skype then you can make cheap calls to the US from anywhere in the world. Here are some suggestions which should help make your calls effective:

• Check the time in the US to make sure it isn't too early or late. Here is the time on the Eastern side of the US, which covers the next set of primary states: North Carolina & Indiana (May 6), West Virginia (May 13), Kentuky (May 20) and Puerto Rico (June 1): Oregon (May 20) and Montana & South Dakota (June 3) are 1-2hrs behind.
• Start by explaining who you are, and asking if they would be happy to talk, for example: "Hi, I'm Justin from London, England and I'm part of an international movement supporting Senator Obama. I can't vote in this election, but if you have a few minutes I'd love to talk to you about how a President Obama would improve America's standing in the world."
• Be polite and sensitive. Many people find phone calls from strangers annoying and, while most people will have recieved quite a few calls about the elections, as non-Americans we need to be particularly careful not to offend potential voters.
• Tell them a little about yourself and your country, explaining why the US elections have such an impact on your life and why you think Obama will help improve relations between America and your country (and the rest of the world).
• Ask about their views on foreign policy. If you disagree strongly, try not to get into an argument, but rather stress the positives about Senator Obama.
• You might compare Senator Obama to politicians in your country, and express your hope that if he becomes President it could inspire improvements in your political system.
• Explain that Obama is the prefered candidate in every international poll, including in Japan, Britain, Germany, Brazil, South Africa, France, Iraq... You could point out that in Canada and Britain - America's closest allies - Obama is not only the overall favourite candidate, but also the favourite candiate among conservatives, demonstrating his ability to cross partisan divides.
• Mention your favourite stories and testimonies from this website, for example the Pastor in Holland who says Obama's candidacy has dramatically reversed anti-American feeling among the Muslim immigrant community.
• If they are particularly interested in world opinion, point them to this website (TheWorldWantsObama.org) for more information.
• Try to end on a positive note, making sure you have mentioned some of the things you admire about America and Americans; the "Two Americas" article by Israeli peace activist Uri Averny makes the point well: "there are two Americas... the America of Hiroshima and McCarthy, and the other America, the America of the Declaration of Independence, of Lincoln, Wilson and Roosevelt. In these terms, George Bush belongs to the first. Obama, his opposite in almost every respect, represents the second."

Good luck, and let us know how you get on!

Canada swings to Obama - for all demographic categories

With the longest undefended international border (5,522 miles long) and as the largest trade partner, what happens in the US matters a great deal up in Canada. A recent Harris-Decima poll "suggests Canadians of every age group, political stripe and gender prefer the rookie senator over his adversaries, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee John McCain. When asked which of the three candidates they liked most, respondents preferred Obama over McCain by an almost five-to-one margin - 39 per cent to eight per cent. Even among self-declared Conservatives, Obama had almost double McCain's support. Obama also had a nine-point edge over Clinton. That is a drastic turnaround from January, when the better-known Clinton had an 11-point lead among Canadian poll respondents... When asked who they thought would win the presidency, 44 per cent said Obama, 19 per cent said McCain, and only 17 per cent predicted there would be a second Clinton in the White House... The poll of 1,000 Canadians was conducted from April 3 to 6."

Canadians for Obama has been organising roadtrips south of the border to volunteer with the Obama campaign. Canadian blogger Daryl Wonk was fortunate enough to be in Chicago on Super Tuesday. He writes "Maybe I was speaking for the majority of Canadians and Conservatives when I shook Obama’s hand on Super Tuesday and said “Canada loves you too”" There are around a dozen Facebook groups for Canadian supporters, many with more than 200 members and the largest Canadians for Barack Obama has over 2300 members. While Canadian Obama supporters are quite serious about their support, they clearly have a fun side: