A scholar and expert on British-American relations isn't surprised by the results of a poll that shows people overseas overwhelmingly favor Barack Obama over Mitt Romney.
The British Broadcasting Company World Service opinion poll asked residents in 21 countries who they want to win the U.S. presidential race. On average, 50 percent of the respondents in each country indicated that they wanted Barack Obama to win a second term, while only nine percent favored Mitt Romney. France was Obama's biggest cheerleader, giving 72 percent support, while the only country where Romney enjoyed the advantage was Pakistan.
Luke Coffey, the Margaret Thatcher fellow at The Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, is not surprised that Obama is so popular overseas.
"There's a general feeling around the world that any person who is not a Republican and who is not George W. Bush is preferable," Coffey explains. "So this is just part of a very simplistic view from outside of the United States viewing American politics."
But he notes this view is not based on fact.
"If you look at President Obama's policies toward Europe versus President Bush's, for example, you actually see that Bush was far better of an ally and partner to Europe," the U.S.-U.K. relations expert states.
And despite Obama's efforts, the president is not so popular in the Middle East. "Actually, the Republican Party is more popular," Coffey reports.
He does not believe people in other countries really understand American politics, so American voters should not take much stock in which candidate foreigners prefer.
The survey was conducted by GlobeScan/POPA between July 3 and September 3.