I’m confounded by the purpose of polls like this. Sure, this one is driven by the ASSociated Press, and is designed by them to amplify the liberal view of how Bush has screwed up our reputation throughout the world. Beyond the fact that these polls mean nothing (the polled can’t vote for heaven’s sake!), I am frustrated with stories like these because I know that the people being surveyed no NOTHING about America. They see us through the eyes of their media. Lets take the European media for example. Most of the press in France, Germany, the UK and The Netherlands are extremely left-wing. They paint the US as being led by a bully, a cowboy who listens to no one. On a daily basis, the public is pounded by stories focusing on the American government (BushWorld) being evil, misguided, stubborn and misleading. So naturally, the citizenry reflect that bias. Meanwhile, the same leftist media promote American Democrats as intelligent, even-minded people who are led by a charismatic war hero named John Kerry. The same John Kerry who had the guts to protest the Viet Nam war and sacrifice himself as a martyr when he returned from the conflict.
It is very simple actually. Conservatives = bad, liberals = good. That’s what the European people hear, that’s what they believe. It’s also what makes polls like this worthless 18 days before the US election. Responsible editors of the MSM should see these for what they are – leftist propaganda.