Poll Watch: NBC News Political Survey

NBC News Political Survey

In general, do you approve or disapprove of the job that Barack Obama is doing as president?

• Approve 52%
• Disapprove 41%

Do you generally approve or disapprove of the job that Barack Obama is doing in handling the economy?

• Approve 37%
• Disapprove 58%

Do you generally approve or disapprove of the job that Barack Obama is doing in handling foreign policy?

• Approve 57%
• Disapprove 35%

Do you generally approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing in handling the war in Afghanistan?

• Approve 56%
• Disapprove 35%

Do you think the war in Afghanistan against the Taliban and Al Qaeda has been very successful, somewhat successful, somewhat unsuccessful, or very unsuccessful?

• Very successful 7%
• Somewhat successful 55%
• Somewhat unsuccessful 23%
• Very unsuccessful 11%

Do you feel more confident or less confident that the war in Afghanistan will come to a successful conclusion?

• More confident 38%
• Less confident 50%

President Obama has pledged to start reducing American troop levels in Afghanistan this year, but a recent plan by the U.S. and its NATO allies see some combat troops remaining there until 2014. Do you strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove or strongly disapprove of leaving some American troops in Afghanistan until 2014?

• Strongly approve 17%
• Somewhat approve 35%
• Somewhat disapprove 20%
• Strongly disapprove 26%

Which statement comes closest to what you think about Osama bin Laden’s death…

Statement A: The Unites States should remove our troops from Afghanistan because bin Laden's death indicates the Taliban and Al Qaeda are less of a threat and our presence there is no longer necessary.

Statement B: The United States should keep our troops in Afghanistan because bin Laden's death does not change the overall mission of securing Afghanistan and the Taliban and Al Qaeda still remain a continuing threat.

• Statement B/US Keep Troops 72%
• Statement A/US Remove Troops 20%

Do you think the death of Osama bin Laden will make it easier, make it harder, or not affect the United States’ ability to win the global war on terror?

• Easier to win the global war on terror 39%
• Harder to win the global war on terror 15%
• Not affect ability to win the global war on terror 38%

Thinking some more about the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden —Have you gained respect, lost respect, or is your opinion unchanged for each of the following?

U.S. military

• Gained respect 62%
• Lost respect 1%
• Opinion unchanged 35%

CIA

• Gained respect 47%
• Lost respect 2%
• Opinion unchanged 47%

President Obama

• Gained respect 47%
• Lost respect 6%
• Opinion unchanged 46%

Former President George W. Bush

• Gained respect 20%
• Lost respect 13%
• Opinion unchanged 65%

Pakistan

• Gained respect 4%
• Lost respect 45%
• Opinion unchanged 47%

Do you think it was the right decision or wrong decision to kill Osama bin Laden rather than capture him?

• Right decision 80%
• Wrong decision 11%

Do you think the Obama Administration should release or should not release the picture that shows Osama bin Laden dead with a bullet wound in the face? And, do you feel that way strongly or not so strongly?

• Strongly should release 24%
• Not-so-strongly should release 5%
• Not-so-strongly should not release 12%
• Strongly should not release 52%

Do you think the leaders of Pakistan knew where Osama bin Laden was in their country and deliberately withheld this information from the United States or do you think they did not know where Osama bin Laden was?

• Knew where he was and withheld 72%
• Knew he was in country/not exact location (VOL) 6%
• Did not know where he was 13%

How worried are you that the United States will experience another major terrorist attack--very worried, fairly worried, only slightly worried, or not really worried at all?

• Very worried 21%
• Fairly worried 31%
• Only slightly worried 33%
• Not really worried 14%

How likely do you think it is that the United States will be the target of another major terrorist attack at home or overseas in the next few months--very likely, somewhat likely, somewhat unlikely, or very unlikely?

• Very likely 32%
• Somewhat likely 46%
• Somewhat unlikely 15%
• Very unlikely 5%

If President Obama runs for re-election in the year 2012, do you think you will probably vote for President Obama or probably vote for the Republican candidate?

• Probably vote for President Obama 45%
• Probably vote for Republican candidate 30%
• Depends/Depends on who opponent is (VOL) 16%
• Vote for other party (VOL) 4%

How confident are you that Barack Obama has the right set of goals and policies to be president of the United States--extremely confident, quite confident, only somewhat confident, or not at all confident?

• Extremely confident 20%
• Quite confident 18%
• Somewhat confident 31%
• Not at all confident 30%

In general, do you approve or disapprove of the job that Congress is doing?

• Approve 22%
• Disapprove 70%

Now I'm going to read you the names of several public figures and I'd like you to rate your feelings toward each one as very positive, somewhat positive, neutral, somewhat negative, or very negative.

Barack Obama

• Very positive 33%
• Somewhat positive 21%
• Neutral 14%
• Somewhat negative 13%
• Very negative 18%

Hillary Clinton

• Very positive 26%
• Somewhat positive 29%
• Neutral 23%
• Somewhat negative 12%
• Very negative 9%

George W. Bush

• Very positive 13%
• Somewhat positive 24%
• Neutral 22%
• Somewhat negative 16%
• Very negative 24%

During the next twelve months, do you think that the nation's economy will get better, get worse, or stay about the same?

• Get better 31%
• Get worse 25%
• Stay about the same 43%

Do you consider yourself a supporter of the Tea Party Movement?

• Yes 26%
• No 62%

Survey of 800 adults, 84% of whom are registered to vote, was conducted May 5-7, 2011. The margin of error is +/- 3.46 percentage points. Party ID breakdown: Strong Democrat 25%; Not very strong Democrat 10%; Independent/lean Democrat 9; Strictly Independent 16%; Independent/lean Republican 7%; Not very strong Republican 10%; Strong Republican 14%. Political ideology: 41% Moderate; 20% Somewhat conservative; 14% Very conservative; 12% Somewhat liberal; 8% Very liberal.