World closely watching US presidential polls...V_DAY IS HERE..

JAKARTA (AP): When Sri Murtiningsi asked her third grade class what they wanted to be when they grew up, the answers ranged from doctors to a pilot. One curly haired boy raised his hand: Barack Obama said his dream was to be president of the United States.

Forty years later Murtiningsi _ like the rest of the world _ is watching closely as Americans prepare to head to the polls on Tuesday.

Many believe Obama's international experience would go a long way in helping repair damage caused by the unpopular U.S.-led war in Iraq, with recent opinion polls from more than 70 nations favoring him a resounding three-to-one over Republican John McCain.

Newspapers across the globe came out in support of the Democratic candidate Monday.

``Obama the best hope for U.S. revival,'' said an editorial in The Australian Financial Review said. The Gulf News, an English-language paper in the United Arab Emirates, agreed, saying only he could ``undo the great damage done by the Bush administration to America's image,'' especially in the Middle East. Obama ``deserves to win,'' declared The Irish Times.

Few if any in the sleepy Japanese coastal town of Obama _ which translates as ``little beach'' _ would disagree. Images of the Democratic candidate adorn banners along a main shopping street and preparations for an election day victory party were in full swing Monday.

Koichi Inoue, who makes traditional sweet bean cakes, said his factory was working at double normal production because he had promised free handouts for every customer if Obama came out on top.

``It looks like he is going to win from the polls so I've got to be ready,'' he said.

Election fever was also high in Vietnam, where McCain is known by some as the U.S. fighter pilot who was shot down in Hanoi during a 1967 bombing run and then held prisoner of war for more than five years.

As a U.S. senator in the 1990s he helped normalize bilateral relations, so he is ``someone who understands Vietnam,'' said Phan Manh Tien, 54, a retired soldier and truck driver, though even he prefers Obama.

Like many in this wear-wary nation, the reason is simple: He sees the Democrat as less hawkish.

Le Lan Anh, a Hanoi real estate tycoon and novelist, is among the few who disagree.

She says McCain is ``a great man,'' because he passed up the opportunity to leave prison early, ahead of other U.S. inmates. ``He's patriotic. As a soldier, he came here to destroy my country, but I admire his dignity.''

Many in Pakistan, a close ally in the U.S. war on terror, will be glued to television sets on election day.

The results, they say, will have broad implications for their own Muslim country and neighboring Afghanistan, where American forces have been battling the Taliban and its al-Qaida allies.

Violence has spread in recent months from tradition border regions to the capital, Islamabad, where a recent suicide bombing at the Marriott Hotel left more than 50 dead.

The last eight years have ``affected our economy and our peace,'' said Mohammad Zubair, a 33-year-old lawyer in Lahore, who like others is anticipating an Obama win. ``I hope the election will bring change to Pakistan as well.''

Some in the Philippines seemed ambivalent, telling pollsters they did not think it really mattered who won. Others said if it was Obama, they hoped he would reconsider the U.S. military presence in the country's south, where Islamic militants are active.

``These policies must be stopped,'' said Renato Reyes, a leader of the left-wing group Bayan, saying they were ``detrimental to the national interests of the Filipino people.''

The mood at the Indonesian elementary school where Obama studied for two years, meanwhile, was especially upbeat Monday with a crowd of 500 offering prayers for their former student at an early morning flag-raising ceremony.

Former teachers, classmates and friends fondly remember the then-chubby 8-year-old as a hardworking, good-natured and, to their amusement, sometimes naughty child.

``I taught him a few bad words in Indonesian,'' said childhood friend Rully Dassad, who still lives near the school in an upscale neighborhood in the capital. He described how students would burst into laughter when young Barack mimicked him. ``But he was a very good sport about it.''

Though she is now 69, Murtiningsi's memories of Obama are still strong. She describes standing in front of her class of third graders one Monday morning telling students that when she was young, her dream was to be a teacher.

``You too should follow your dreams,'' she said, asking the children what they wanted to be. ``Barry was the only one who said he wanted to be president ... I hope his dream comes true