John McCain may be hanging on among American voters, but it’s a blowout for Barack Obama in France, Germany and Britain, where legions of fans await the European leg of his overseas trip.

“ ‘Obamania’ in Germany is now in full swing as the country awaits a political rock star,” proclaimed Deutsche Welle, Germany’s international broadcaster.

Obama is scheduled to wrap up his tour of the Middle East today or Wednesday before heading to Europe.

The campaign is putting the focus of the European tour on a speech in Berlin on Thursday. Obama will go to the city’s Victory Column to talk about the “historic” alliance between the United States and Germany.

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According to estimates, anywhere between 10,000 and 1 million people are expected to attend the speech, which has been likened by some to John F. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” address delivered at the Berlin Wall in June 1963.

“There is a great passion for a new America in Europe, and Barack Obama is the object of that adulation,” Robin Hemingway, the founder of Americans in Berlin-Brandenburg for Obama, told Deutsche Welle.

A July 14 Guardian/ICM survey found 53 percent of those surveyed in Britain believed Obama would make the best president, compared with just 11 percent for McCain.

A Wednesday Pew Research poll showed Europeans to be vastly more confident in Obama becoming the next president compared with McCain. In France, for instance, 84 percent said they had more confidence in Obama as president, compared with 33 percent for McCain. The numbers were nearly identical in Germany, and Obama led McCain by at least 30 points in nearly every other European country surveyed.

“[Obama is] very popular among the average person in Europe,” said Hudson Institute foreign policy expert Richard Weitz, “which makes sense because Bush is not very popular and [Obama] has differentiated himself from Bush.”

Mackenzie Eaglen, a senior foreign policy analyst for the Heritage Foundation, said part of the excitement about Obama’s trip comes from the fact that Obama has logged far fewer hours abroad than McCain.

“Obama is starting from behind here, and that is feeding into the frenzy,” Eaglen said.

Despite his popularity with Europeans, Obama might get more of a lukewarm reception from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom he will meet with Thursday, or French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whom he is scheduled to meet Friday.

Both leaders have enjoyed close relationships with President Bush and have been “on a more conservative bent” in recent years, Weitz said, adding, “These are leaders who can perhaps feel more comfortable with McCain.”

sferrechio@dcexaminer.com