Jewish voters nationwide have grown increasingly comfortable with voting for Barack Obama for president since the Illinois senator secured the Democratic nomination in June. They now favor Obama over John McCain by more than 3 to 1, 74% to 22%.

Gallup’s two likely voter models, reflecting Monday through Wednesday interviewing, show similar results, with Barack Obama ahead of John McCain 50% to 46% using the “traditional” model, and 51% to 45% using the “expanded” model.

Gallup finds that 13% of registered voters say they will be casting a presidential ballot for the first time this election year. That matches the figure Gallup found for the 2004 election.

While 80% of registered voters are aware of former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama for president, only 12% of this attentive group say the endorsement makes them more likely to vote for Obama, while 4% say it makes them less likely to vote for him.

As has been well-established, young adults solidly back Barack Obama for president. But 18- to 29-year-olds still lag behind older voters on key indicators of voter turnout, and even Gallup’s expanded likely voter model does not at this point suggest a surge in turnout among younger voters.

Gallup Polls conducted in 70 countries representing more than 2 billion of the world’s adult citizens reveal a nearly 4-to-1 preference for Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain among those who say they know enough to have an opinion. Citizens in Europe are the most likely to state a preference for the next president of the United States, while citizens in Asia are the least likely. Only Georgia and the Philippines prefer McCain to Obama.