Jordanian youth might not know a lot about U.S elections, but almost all of them have an opinion about the race.  I asked 25 students from various urban universities to participate in a survey about the upcoming elections.  And while John McCain prides himself on his international experience, the survey showed that most Jordanian youth have not even heard of him.  Eighty percent of those surveyed knew Barack Obama, but only 44 percent of youth knew John McCain.   

Jordanian youth also said they liked Obama best.  Forty-four percent said they liked Obama and only eight percent said they liked McCain.   

“I like Obama because his thinking goes in the same way of the Middle East, and his father was a Muslim,” Moayad Amin Musleh, 22, said when asked why he liked Obama.  In fact, one girl even argued with her friends that Obama was great because he too was Muslim.  (Much like their American counterparts, she and her friends argued about this until they agreed on the truth--that he is not Muslim.)

Eight percent even said they liked Obama simply because “their favorite stars like him.”  The plurality of Obama supporters (44 percent) approved of the Democratic candidate because he has a “great plan” for the world, the U.S. and the Middle East. 

In contrast, less than half of those surveyed did not know John McCain, and 83 percent of those that did know him disapproved of him.

“Maybe his ideas will be the same as President [George W.] Bush’s,”  Shadin Twacci, 30, said. 

Mohammad Mehdawi, 21, agreed.  “I want Obama, not McCain, to be the next president of the United States because we are sick of the Republican way of controlling the world, and I think the Democrats might have a new and better way.” 

However, 17 percent of the students who recognized John McCain did approve of him, and they were very outspoken about it. 

“He will do many great things for the United States and [God willing] will change the Republican party,” Bayan Al-Ka’abneh, 19, said. 

Razan, 17, added that “he will definitely be better for Arab countries because he knows more about them.” 

Thirty-six percent of those surveyed did not like any American presidential candidate for personal and political reasons.   

“I do not like any American men,”  Shather, a 20-year-old woman, said.  “They do not love Arabs.” 

Khulid Al-Habhlah, 32, claimed that  “McCain wants to give all of Palestine to Israel and destroy Jordan.”  She added that "Obama is a selfish person who did not try to help one person" while in Jordan a few weeks ago.

Sometimes, the opinions did not match up.  For example, while Al-Habhlah believed McCain supported an Israeli invasion of Palestine, Wasam Badder, 21, said it was Obama that backed Israel.

“He clearly supports Israel in the Isreal-Palestine conflict,” he said.  “Did you see how he acted while he was in Israel?” 

Despite so many Jordanians not liking either candidate, 40 percent thought that Barack Obama would be a better president than Bush, and another 40 percent agreed that both candidates would be better for the world than Bush.  This percentage is very promising in a country where only about 20 percent of Jordanians say they “like” America.   

If four out of every five youth think that our two candidates are better than the current president, these youth may show more respect for our country and see our country as progressing rather than regressing.  Furthermore, if these numbers have any indication on future opinion polls, America may soon be viewed by Jordanians in a more positive light, no matter who wins the election. 

After Americans have watched the world opinion of our country plummet over the last eight years, this is very good news to my American ears.