JAKARTA, Indonesia – When Sri Murtiningsi asked her third graders what they wanted to be when they grew up, the answers ranged from doctors to a pilot. One boy in the class 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 Tuesday.

"Barry was the only one who said he wanted to be president ... I hope his dream comes true," Murtiningsi said of Obama, who spent four years living in Indonesia as a child.

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. 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.