NBC/WSJ poll: Negative campaign takes toll on candidates; Obama up six points
But by virtually every other metric, registered voters appear to favor the president.
-Looking out for the middle class? Mr. Obama (49% to 33%)
-Being knowledgeable and experienced enough to handle the presidency? Mr. Obama (48% to 32%)
-Being a good commander in chief? Mr. Obama leads by 10 points.
TEAM OBAMA has been hitting Mitt Romney relentlessly with negative ads, which we see every day here in the Beltway. It’s rocked his approval ratings and dragged him down, the proof is in the new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. But on the economy, Romney remains in the lead, 43% to 36%. The other side is that Pres. Obama’s unfavorable numbers are as “high as we’ve ever recorded them in our poll,” according to NBC’s Chuck Todd.
Everyone is talking about the new 30-second ad “Always” today, but the ad above is far more important. Pres. Obama frames the election as “The Choice,” which is what Mitt Romney doesn’t want it to be. The only way Romney wins is if November is a referendum on the Obama presidency. I’m just not certain Team Romney understands what it means that Obama framed the election as a choice first and did so with this 60-second ad.
“[...] tactically the Obama campaign has basically won the first half of the general election,” was Chuck Todd’s review today on “Hardball.” But as with any negative campaigning, the one on the offense takes a hit, too, and favorability is something Pres. Obama can’t afford to let slip too far.
From the White House gaggle today, via the pool report which reporters and independent journalists like myself get via email:
-Psaki began by showing a new 30-second television ad being launched by the Obama campaign in six states, featuring the president speaking direct to camera answering the “you didn’t build that” attacks by Gov. Romney. The six states: Iowa, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Nevada, Virginia. Told the campaign will send out shortly.
Psaki: We are not going to stand by while Mitt Romney slices and dices and deliberately takes out of context the president’s remarks on businesses.
Asked if the ad showed the campaign was concerned Republican attacks were taking hold, Psaki said that when you have a period of time where the Republicans have “It was important to us to ensure people knew where the president was coming from.” Why the president speaking to cameraJ? He’s an effective communicator.
Politico also cited this exchange.
“Always” will air in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, and Nevada.
But the sample in the poll is awful: very heavily weighted to the Democrats. I think Obama went nicey-poo BECAUSE his unfavorables are so high.
Here’s some info from hot air about the breakdown in the polls:
Last month’s sample was questionable. This month’s sample is terrible:
The 2008 national exit poll sample, taken when Hopenchange fever was at its zenith, was 39D/32R/29I, or D+7. This one, after three years of Obamanomics dreck, is somehow D+11 if you include leaners and D+12(!) if you don’t. Anyone feel like taking these results seriously?
Hot Air is a right-wing site. So, if you’re looking for fairness that’s not the place to go. I shouldn’t have to tell anyone around here that.
And let’s at least be factual. Obama’s are higher than they’ve ever been, but Romney’s are worse. There is something for all partisans, which you prove pretty well.
From the pdf, polling details:
Taylor, I know hot air is right-wing — but a bad sample is a bad sample. And even with a skewed sample, Obama’s negatives were the highest yet (as, I believe, Romney’s were as well).
Great, another “who do you dislike least?” campaign. No wonder only about half of us bother to vote, when both major parties dedicate themselves to bringing down the other guy rather than telling us why we should vote FOR somebody.
I’m so sick of polls and the talking big mouths on the tv making oh so conclusive projections, criticisms and what have you about both candidates. I’ll wait until 105 days expire for the Tuesday following the first Monday in November or 11/6/12 or maybe 11/7/12 if it’s as close as Gore/Bush without the Supreme’s interfering.
I think most Amerians don’t pay attention to polls, jjamele, at least at this point. I don’t think the polls are a huge factor in why people don’t vote.
Caveat. Money. It should be mentioned about the burn rate of the Obama campaign, along with the fact that the Romney campaign can not spend certain monies until he is officially the Republcian nominee – after the convention.
Federal election law prohibets robo-call pollsters from calling cell-phones. Two of the leading robo-call pollsters are the GOP biased Rasmussen reports and PPP Democratic biased pollster. The Daily Kos uses the PPP polling organizations If you remove all Rasmussen polls and PPP polls, Obama’s lead over Romney increases.
Here is the pdf for the NBC News/Wall Street poll results released yesterday. The NBC News Wall Street poll is unbiased as it includes a Democratic pollster (Hart) and a Republican pollster ( McInturff) who conducts all the polls.
Both candidates have seen their apporval rratings drop due to the barrage of negative ads by both sides in the swing states, but Romney is being hurt more than Obama. Arre the Bain ads working? This poll measures approval ratings on many issues. Most telling is the approval numbers for Bain Capital. Approval for Bain Capital was lowest among all the questions asked. Second lowest was approval for the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street movement with the Supreme Court having the third lowest approval ratings.
TM.COM NOTE: Link has been removed, because of length.
“Taylor, I know hot air is right-wing — but a bad sample is a bad sample.”
Shhhh, Don’t let Taylor know the sample is rigged. You’re right Re: Hot Air IS a right wing site, but a tainted sample is a tainted sample. Anybody can rig a sample to get the results they want. My only question is why the Wall Street Journal would co sponsor a poll with a sample that has a D advantage of +12, when 2008 was D +7, a better than historical norm year for Obama and the Dems. NBC I undersstand because they are in the tank for Obama and would certainly rig a poll to boost Dem morale, but WSJ?? Weird!
Smooth Jazz, you make me laugh! Somehow the WSJ connection had escaped me, both last night and this morning, until the post was being posted (so to speak). And I thought the same thing as you.
But come on – 12 points? Really? When the 2008 Dem “wave” advantage was 7? And this year the GOP and “lean GOPs” are pretty enthusiastic? That’s nonsensical.
And the idea that Obama has, two days in a row, responded personally to the “You didn’t build that” issue indicates to me that he and the campaign realize how damaging it was.