Melbourne: A whooping majority of Australians have favoured Democratic nominee Barack Obama as the next President of the United States.

About 76 per cent of the Australians voted for Senator Obama to win the next month's presidential election as against nearly ten per cent supporting Republican nominee John Mccain, a recent poll has indicated.

Surveyed on 1000 people, the poll confirmed that Australians were taking a keen interest in the race for the White House, with 85 per cent saying they are monitoring the contest and 24 per cent expressing a high level of interest, according to AAP report here.

The poll, conducted in 17 countries, of over 17,000 people, revealed that the world also favours Obama to be the 44th US president.

Besides, Australians rated the environment as their top concern along with the people of Taiwan, Brazil, Finland, Canada, Germany and the UK.

The latest polls out of the US favoured Obama who leads both nationally and in battleground states such as Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Analysts have said Mc Cain's flagging popularity with voters is largely linked with the poor state of the US economy and the vast unpopularity of President George W Bush.

However, the survey showed that despite a widespread disdain for the Bush administration, Australians are not taking out their frustrations on the American people. About 15 per cent of respondents described themselves as anti-American, while 67 per cent said they were neutral. Another 17 per cent said they were pro-American.

Eight world issues were presented in the poll that include terrorism, the war in Iraq, the global economy, world poverty, human rights, the environment, international trade and nuclear proliferation.
Source : PTI