Paying A Decent Respect To The Opinions Of Mankind

Obama's appeal is in part related to how he resurrects American soft power and restores the United States' image around the world

which 82 percent of the respondents in the new [WaPo] poll said has been badly damaged during Bush's presidency. By 2 to 1, Americans think that Obama would do more to improve the country's image abroad than McCain would.

And how's this for a sea-change:

On social issues such as abortion and same-sex civil unions, 56 percent prefer Obama, 32 percent McCain.