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Poll rates Obama as Canadians' favorite politician

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-01 10:07

OTTAWA -- The US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama surpasses Prime Minister Stephen Harper to become Canadians' favorite politician, according to poll released Monday.

US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) recognizes a friend in the audience as he addresses a National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) conference in Washington, June 28, 2008. [Agencies]

The survey, conducted by the Strategic Counsel in the United States and Canada, showed that in Canada, Obama was more admired than Prime Minister Stephen Harper and any other national leader.

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Obama got the support of 26 percent respondents, followed by Harper at 21 percent, Hillary Clinton at 16 percent, leader of opposition New Democratic Party Jack Layton at 9 percent, leader of opposition Bloc Quebecois Gilles Duceppe at 6 percent. Leader of Canada's biggest opposition group the Liberal Party Stephane Dion got only 5 percent while John McCain, the US Republican presidential candidate was the last with 3 percent.

The poll showed Obama appealed to people across Canada's political spectrum, with 24 percent of conservative-minded voters choosing him and 28 percent of liberal thinkers.

Some people say it is an acknowledgment of the phenomenal nature of Obama's appeal. "He really is a prototype of his own, he's broken the mold," said Peter Donolo from the Strategic Counsel.

Meanwhile, in Canada there is a fatigue with the nature of politics in Ottawa, the very cranky, minority-government style politics, he said.

The Strategic Counsel surveyed 1,000 Canadians and 1,000 people on June 12-22. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.