Fifty-two per cent of Europeans want Democratic candidate Barack Obama to win the U.S. presidential election in November. The online poll by British newspaper the Daily Telegraph surveyed opinions from Europe’s wealthiest and most influential countries, B

Obama’s rival for the place in the White House, Republican John McCain, received only 15 per cent of the votes.

Barack Obama, who has consistently opposed the war in Iraq, is especially popular in Italy. Seventy per cent of Italians confessed they would give their support to the democratic candidate if they could vote. In France, Obama got the backing of 65 per cent of the respondents. While 33 per cent of Germans gave him their support.

Forty-nine per cent of British citizens said they would also support Obama, with just 14 per cent preferring McCain. Twenty-four per cent of Britons said they didn’t know who they’d support if they had a vote

Surprisingly, perhaps, McCain got the biggest support in Russia, the country the Republican candidate thinks is the biggest threat to the U.S. McCain has even said Russia should be kicked out of G8. Thirty-six per cent of Russians said they would vote for him if they could, while Obama received just 28 per cent. 

The poll also revealed a high level of anti-American feelings in Europe, which have strengthened during George W. Bush’s presidency. More than half of Russians (56 per cent) see the U.S. as a “force of evil”. While just 33 per cent of Brits believe that America stands for good.