Poll: the Democratic nominee

Barack Obama is the global choice for the Democratic presidential nominee by a margin of almost two to one, according to an international poll conducted by Times Online.

65 per cent of participants – spanning all continents right around the world – said the young Illinois senator was their choice to take on John McCain in the race for the White House, against just 35 per cent who selected Hillary Clinton.

The findings, published as voters in four US states headed to the polls in a primary round crucial to the Democratic race, run counter to the Clinton campaign’s claims that Mrs Clinton, as a former first lady, commands a level of international goodwill and respect that her less experienced rival cannot.

Mrs Clinton has argued that after eight years at her husband’s side in the White House she is best equipped to restore America’s standing in the world, but the poll results suggest that it is Mr Obama who has the greatest appeal to hearts and minds.

The poll, running on Across the Pond, the Times US elections blog, had by lunchtime attracted more than 1750 voters over a period of 24 hours. These were evenly spread across Europe and United States, while the Middle East, Africa, Russia, China, Central Asia and Australia also saw heavy participation.

Votes came from as far-flung countries as Mauritius, Bangladesh, South Africa and Japan, as well as arenas of US military involvement such as Iraq and Afghanistan. The only country with a significant tilt towards Mrs Clinton was Israel, where Mr Obama’s failure to pick up votes may reflect concerns over his position on Israel and his church's links to Louis Farrakhan, viewed by many Jews as anti-semitic.

Back in the United States, however, Mrs Clinton appears to be gaining ground on her rival ahead of today's primary showdown.

Rhode Island, Vermont, Ohio and Texas all vote today but it is the latter two, delegate-rich states where Mrs Clinton is preparing to make what may be her last stand against the phenomenally popular Mr Obama, who has won all of the last 11 nominating contests. Her husband has said that losses in either state would likely doom her candidacy, while other senior Democrats have intimated that such an event should see her bow out gracefully to avoid further damage to the party.

The latest polls in the United States show the New York senator rallying in both states. In Texas, she has reversed Mr Obama's three-point edge from yesterday to take a 47 to 44 point lead, while in Ohio she has pulled even, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Houston Chronicle poll published this morning.

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