FrenchieCat's Meow - 9/28/08- Poll finds Improving US standing in the world is Americans' top foreign policy priority

that was the headline Just one short year ago, in late September of 2008, when a survey came out showing.....

...overwhelming concern about improving America's standing in the world,
which ranks as the highest priority, above "protecting the jobs of American workers".

The article summarises the main conclusions:

A large majority of Americans (81% of Republicans and 88% of Democrats) believe improving the U.S. standing in the world should be a "very important" foreign policy goal
Americans on both sides of the aisle endorse talking to leaders of "unfriendly" governments including Cuba (70%), North Korea (68%), Iran (65%), Burma (63%) and Zimbabwe (61%)
A majority of Americans (67%) do not support an open-ended commitment to Iraq.
http://americaintheworld.typepad.com/home/...

BECAUSE, YOU SEE, AMERICA WAS HAVING REAL PROBLEMS ON THIS ISSUE....

America's Standing in World Opinion Poll Hits New Low
By Mohamed Elshinnawi
Washington DC
07 February 2007

According to a recent BBC World Service poll of 26,000 people in 25 countries (mostly non-Arab), just 29 percent now feel the United States exerts a mainly positive influence on the world. That compares with 36 percent who felt that way a year ago and 40 percent two years ago. When asked about the U.S. military presence in the Middle East, an average of 68 percent of respondents across the 25 countries answered that it provokes more conflict than it prevents.
http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/200...

Americans Deeply Pessimistic About US Standing in the World
3/12/08
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discu...

IT WAS THE LATE GREAT SEN. KENNEDY WHO TOLD US THE TRUTH FIRST....

Kennedy: Obama can restore America's world standing (1st Lead)
US News
Jan 28, 2008, 20:26 GMT

Washington - Members of America's prominent Kennedy family Monday backed Senator Barack Obama in his bid for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, speaking of their hope for the healing of the country's tarnished world standing.

Senator Edward Kennedy, the icon of the US left who has strong support from labour unions and Hispanics, held the attention of cheering young people at American University in the nation's capital for nearly half an hour.
snip
'When he raises his hand on inauguration day, at that very moment we will lift the spirits of our nation and begin to restore America's standing in the world,' Kennedy said.

AND THEN, WE BROUGHT IN THE ERA OF OBAMA WITH OUR VOTES.
on November 5th, the day after the election,
as read in the below BBC article.....

The United States has seen the biggest transformation in its standing in the world since the election of John Fitzgerald Kennedy in November 1960.

This is a country which has habitually, sometimes irritatingly, regarded itself as young and vibrant, the envy of the world. Often this is merely hype. But there are times when it is entirely true.

With Barack Obama's victory, one of these moments has arrived.

The US has never been so unpopular, so derided, and so dismissed by the outside world as it has in the latter stages of George W Bush's presidency. The other day I asked Madeleine Albright, President Clinton's formidable secretary of state, if she could remember a time when people hated America so much.

Expectations abroad

"Not in my lifetime," she answered. "I feel very strongly about this country, and what an exceptional, amazing country it is. But I honestly think this is about as bad as I've seen it."

Opinion polls around the world have confirmed America's unpopularity. And the chance that a young, apparently pleasant and modest black man might become its president was greeted favourably everywhere.

Last summer a poll for the BBC World Service, conducted in 22 countries, indicated that people preferred Barack Obama to John McCain by four to one. Almost half said that if Senator Obama were elected, it would change their view of the United States completely.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_ele...

SO OBAMA'S ELECTION FELT GOOD TO MANY, BUT THE REAL QUESTION WAS, WOULD IT REALLY HELP?

Initially NO; so said Gallup:

February 18, 2009
No Perceived Gains in U.S. World Standing Post-Bush
Just 32% are satisfied with the United States’ position in the world
by Jeffrey M. Jones
PRINCETON, NJ -- It is apparently going to take more than having a new president for Americans to perceive increased international prestige for the United States. Even though a new Gallup Poll finds Americans widely perceiving that other world leaders respect President Obama, just 32% are satisfied with the position of the United States in the world today, and 45% believe other countries perceive the United States favorably -- both little changed from last year, when George W. Bush was still president.

Obama has much work to do to improve Americans' views of their nation's international standing. Since the early part of the Bush presidency, Gallup has documented a significant decline in Americans' satisfaction with the United States' position in the world. This measure barely increased from 30% in 2008 to 32% after Obama's inauguration.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/115087/No-Perce...

AND THEN CAME THE VINDICATION OF OBAMA HATERS, aka HATRIOTS!

BREAKING: World Rejects Barack Obama. No Chicago Olympics —

http://beltwayblips.dailyradar.com/story/b... /

But not so fast....

New poll finds Obama has already rebuilt America’s global brand

By Dan Murphy | Staff writer 10.06.09
Barack Obama's election victory and global popularity have made the United States the world's most admired national "brand," a new survey finds.

Step aside, Germany and France. There’s a new brand leader among world powers. Who? The good old US of A – according to a new poll – thanks to the global popularity of President Barack Obama.

The Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index (NBI) survey on which countries are most admired and appreciated around the world has been conducted annually since 2005. This year the US topped the list for the first time, climbing six spots.

According to survey designer Simon Anholt President Obama, whatever his trials at home, has been well-received internationally since his election and changed the image of the US from one that dictates to one that consults. “What’s really remarkable is that in all my years studying national reputation, I have never seen any country experience such a dramatic change in its standing as we see for the United States in 2009,” Mr. Anholt said in a press release on the survey. “The results suggest that the new US administration has been well received abroad and the American electorate’s decision to vote in President Obama has given the United States the status of the world’s most admired country.”
http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2... /

So whatever folks want to opine.....Obama has already accomplished plenty, whether folks want to give him that credit or not.

So many question now whether President Barack Obama "deserves" the Nobel Peace Prize.
But me, I'm starting to wonder.....do we truly deserve President Barack Obama?