Poll Watch: NBC News/Wall Street Journal 2012 Presidential Poll

NBC/WSJ 2012 Presidential Poll

REPUBLICAN NOMINATION

• Rick Perry 38% {11%} (8%)
• Mitt Romney 23% {30%} (30%) [21%] {21%} (19%)
• Ron Paul 9% {9%} (7%)
• Michele Bachmann 8% {16%} (3%) [5%]
• Newt Gingrich 5% {8%} (6%) [11%] {13%} (10%)
• Herman Cain 5% {5%} (12%)
• Rick Santorum 3% {3%} (4%) [3%] {2%} (3%)
• Jon Huntsman 2% {2%] (1%)
• None (Vol) 2% {2%} (2%) [4%] {4%} (6%)
• Not sure 5% {10%} (8%) [4%] {8%} (8%)

Second Choice

• Rick Perry 19% {9%}
• Mitt Romney 18% {19%}
• Michele Bachmann 17% {15%}
• Herman Cain 10% {8%}
• Newt Gingrich 9% {6%}
• Ron Paul 5% {9%} 
• Rick Santorum 4% {3%}
• Jon Huntsman 2% {3%}
• Other (Vol) 2% {1%}
• None (Vol) 2% {6%}
• Not sure 5% {5%}

GENERAL ELECTION

• Barack Obama 46% {48%} [49%] {49%} [47%]
• Mitt Romney 45% {41%} [43%] {40%} [40%]

• Barack Obama 47%
• Rick Perry 42%

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?

• Republican candidate 44% {39%} [40%]
• President Obama 40% {42%} [45%]

Which of the following best describes how you would feel if __________________ were elected president -- optimistic and confident that he/she would do a good job, satisfied and hopeful that he/she would do a good job, uncertain and wondering whether he/she would do a good job, or pessimistic and worried that he/she would do a bad job?

Hillary Clinton

• Optimistic and confident 24%
• Satisfied and hopeful 30%
• Uncertain and wondering 21%
• Pessimistic and worried 24%

Barack Obama 

• Optimistic and confident 23%
• Satisfied and hopeful 23%
• Uncertain and wondering 14%
• Pessimistic and worried 40%

Mitt Romney

• Optimistic and confident 13%
• Satisfied and hopeful 24%
• Uncertain and wondering 35%
• Pessimistic and worried 21%

Rudy Giuliani

• Optimistic and confident 11%
• Satisfied and hopeful 25%
• Uncertain and wondering 32%
• Pessimistic and worried 26%

Rick Perry

• Optimistic and confident 15%
• Satisfied and hopeful 19%
• Uncertain and wondering 25%
• Pessimistic and worried 28%

Joe Biden

• Optimistic and confident 10%
• Satisfied and hopeful 18%
• Uncertain and wondering 28%
• Pessimistic and worried 40%

Michele Bachmann

• Optimistic and confident 9%
• Satisfied and hopeful 15%
• Uncertain and wondering 30%
• Pessimistic and worried 36%

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 24% [27%] [28%] {28%} (29%) [25%]
• Somewhat positive 20% [22%] [22%] {21%} (23%) [23%]
• Neutral 12% [14%] [14%] {15%} (15%) [14%]
• Somewhat negative 14% [13%] [13%] {15%} (14%) [14%]
• Very negative 30% [24%] [23%] {20%} (18%) [24%]

Mitt Romney

• Very positive 5% [7%] {6%} [10%]
• Somewhat positive 19% [20%] {19%} [18%]
• Neutral 32% [30%] {30%} [30%]
• Somewhat negative 18% [16%] {13%} [10%]
• Very negative 11% [10%] {12%} [10%]

Rick Perry

• Very positive 9% [4%]
• Somewhat positive 12% [8%]
• Neutral 23% [18%]
• Somewhat negative 9% [6%]
• Very negative 16% [9%]
• Don't know name/Not sure 31% [55%]

Michele Bachmann

• Very positive 5% [5%]
• Somewhat positive 18% [9%]
• Neutral 21% [18%]
• Somewhat negative 12% [3%]
• Very negative 24% [14%]

Sarah Palin

• Very positive 8% [7%] [9%] [13%] {14%}
• Somewhat positive 16% [17%] [16%] [15%] {16%}
• Neutral 20% [19%] [18%] [20%] {19%}
• Somewhat negative 19% [16%] [12%] [16%] {15%}
• Very negative 35% [38%] [41%] [34%] {33%}

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

• Approve 44% {47%} [49%]
• Disapprove 51% {48%} [46%]

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

• Approve 37% {43%} [41%]
• Disapprove 59% {54%} [54%]

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

• Approve 50% [50%]
• Disapprove 45% [44%]

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling the situation in Libya?

• Approve 46% [46%]
• Disapprove 38% [36%]

When you think about the current economic conditions, do you feel that this is a situation that Barack Obama has inherited or is this a situation his policies are mostly responsible for?

• Situation Obama inherited 56% [62%]
• Situation Obama's policies mostly responsible for 33% [25%]

When it comes to the effect of President Obama’s policies in improving economic conditions, would you say his policies have helped or hurt economic conditions, or have they not made much of a difference one way or the other?

• Helped 23%
• Hurt 37%
• Not much of a difference 39%

As you may know, Standard and Poor’s, also known as S&P, downgraded the U.S. government’s credit rating, indicating the company sees United States government bonds as no longer among the safest investments in the world. Who is most to blame for the S&P credit rating downgrade -- President Obama, Republicans in Congress, or Democrats in Congress? If you do not have strong feelings about this, please say so.

• Republicans in Congress 30%
• Democrats in Congress 15%
• President Obama 13%
• No strong feelings 22%

Would you describe Barack Obama as liberal, moderate, or conservative?

• Very liberal 32% [30%] (27%)
• Somewhat liberal 16% [20%] (18%)
• Moderate 37% [38%] (40%)
• Somewhat conservative 7% [6%] (8%)
• Very conservative 2% [3%] (3%)

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

• Yes 27% [26%] [25%] {29%} (27%) [29%]
• No 62% [63%] [67%] {61%} (62%) [61%]

(Among Republicans Who Support the Tea Party) Which better describes you, a supporter of the Tea Party movement, or a Republican?

• Republican 47% [43%] {47%} (48%) [49%]
• Supporter of the Tea Party movement 45% [52%] {46%} (46%) [49%]

What is your preference for the outcome of next year's congressional elections -- a Congress controlled by Republicans or a Congress controlled by Democrats?

• Republican-controlled Congress 47% [44%]
• Democrat-controlled Congress 41% [44%]

Survey of 1,000 adults (84% of whom are registered to vote), including a subsample of registered Republican primary voters, was conducted August 27-31, 2011. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points among adults. Results from the poll conducted July 14-17, 2011 are in curly brackets.  Results from the poll conducted June 9-13, 2011 are in square brackets. Results from the poll conducted March 31 - April 4, 2011 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted February 24-28, 2011 are in curly brackets.  Results from the poll conducted January 13-17, 2011 are in parentheses. Results from the poll conducted December 9-13, 2010 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted September, 2010 are in curly brackets.

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