Miss USA has no idea whether she'll take the crown at the Miss Universe contest on Monday, but she's already decided who's got her vote in the White House race - Barack Obama.
One of 80 hopefuls in the global beauty pageant to be held in Vietnam, 26-year-old Crystle Stewart said while she admired both candidates, she was
more drawn to the Democratic hopeful.
"I like Barack Obama - just his poise and the way he motivates people - and that's something that draws me," said the Texan beauty, who works as a motivational speaker and is writing a book called Waiting to Win.
Asked if she would vote for Obama, she said: "That's a secret, but yes!"
"John McCain is an American hero," she said of the Republican Party hopeful, a senator from Arizona and former naval pilot who spent
five-and-a-half years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
"I'm actually kind of torn because I think he's a great person, he's older and he might be a little bit wiser," she told AFP on the eve of the Miss Universe contest, to be broadcast Sunday evening US time.
"But Obama's on the higher end of the list," she added.
Stewart said she was proud to represent the United States in an event held in Vietnam, once America's battlefield enemy, because the show could act as a bridge between the countries and help post-war reconciliation.
"That was 30 years ago, and we had a terrible conflict, but now we're working together, and I think this will show everyone that USA and Vietnam can be very friendly and cordial to each other," she said.
"Hopefully we can be role models to other countries, to work in cooperation and peace together... It's bringing the countries closer together."
