Earth to Bush: Get Out!

Survey of beings on third planet from the sun indicates rejection of Texan

The Pecksniffian editors over at The New York Times apparently don't care whether Americans know this, but the rest of the planet has endorsed John Kerry over George W. Bush.

I know, I know, that's no big surprise—especially because the rest of the planet doesn't depend on the mostly simplistic and jingoistic U.S. press and TV. Those of you who have ever watched CNN International know that Aaron Brown and Anderson Cooper are featherweights compared with the likes of Jonathan Mann or Monita Raipal.

The U.S. media didn't exactly give major play to this serious-minded poll, at least as far as I can tell. And it's not because some peaceniks conducted it. More than 30,000 people were surveyed this summer by Canadian research firm GlobeScan and the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) of the University of Maryland. The results indicated that Kerry was favored by more than a 2-1 ratio overall.

"Only one in five want to see Bush re-elected," said PIPA director Steven Kull. "Though he is not as well-known, Kerry would win handily if the people of the world were to elect the U.S. president." Support for Kerry, says PIPA, was greater among those with higher education and incomes. Check out the details at PIPA's interesting site.

You'll discover that Bush's strongholds, such as they are, seem to be Poland, the Philippines, and Nigeria. Don't ask me why.

Kerry, said PIPA, was "strongly preferred among all of America's traditional allies." In Norway, the Kerry-Bush split was 74 percent to 7 percent. Even in the United Kingdom, Kerry trounced Bush, 47-16.

In fact, PIPA noted, "Interestingly, among countries that have contributed troops to the operation in Iraq, most favored Kerry and said that their view of the U.S. has gotten worse with Bush's foreign policy."

The only country to give Bush more than 50 percent was the Philippines, where he won 57-32. "Bush's post–9-11 aid to the Filipino government's efforts against the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf may have engendered significant goodwill," PIPA said.

Attention, my Latino brothers and sisters in the U.S.: "Latin Americans went for Kerry in all nine countries polled," said PIPA.