DW-World.de
Deutsche Welle

The survey of 501 Germans showed 72 percent prefer the candidate for the Democratic nomination to his Republican rival John McCain, who has only managed to convince 11 percent of Germans that he would make the better president.

German pollster Emnid conducted the survey for tabloid Bild am Sonntag.

Asked what the next US president should do first, 34 percent of respondents said he should beat world poverty and undernourishment.

Wooing the candidate

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Former US President George Bush (left) opened the new US embassy on Friday, July 4

Separately, weekly newsmagazine Der Spiegel said senior German officials had pressed Obama to stage a major public speech in the heart of Berlin when he visits Europe later this month.

The magazine said German government officials had arranged for an Obama campaign official to meet with the mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, and float the idea that Obama address a crowd at the Brandenburg Gate, close to the new US embassy that opened on Friday.

The spot, once crossed by the Berlin Wall, is infused with history.

In 1987, Ronald Reagan as president of the United States stood up nearby and appealed to the Soviet Union's last communist leader in Moscow: "Mr Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"