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

NBC/WSJ 2012 Presidential Poll

Among Registered Voters

• Barack Obama 49% {50%} (49%) [47%] {49%} (46%) [46%] {48%} [49%] {49%} [47%]
• Mitt Romney 43% {44%} (43%) [45%] {43%} (44%) [45%] {41%} [43%] {40%} [40%]

(Among Obama Voters) Would you definitely vote for Barack Obama, probably vote for Barack Obama but are still thinking about it, or are you just leaning toward voting for Obama?

• Definitely vote for Obama 74%
• Probably vote for Obama, but still thinking about it 13%
• Just leaning toward voting for Obama 12%

(Among Romney Voters) Would you definitely vote for Mitt Romney, probably vote for Mitt Romney but are still thinking about it, or are you just leaning toward voting for Romney?

• Definitely vote for Romney 65%
• Probably vote for Romney, but still thinking about it 16%
• Just leaning toward voting for Romney 19%

Definitely Vote for Candidate

• Barack Obama 37%
• Mitt Romney 28%

Rate your feelings toward each one as very positive, somewhat positive, neutral, somewhat negative, or very negative.

Barack Obama

• Very positive 30% {28%} (28%) [22%] {26%} (23%) [24%] [27%] [28%] {28%} (29%) [25%]
• Somewhat positive 18% {21%} (22%) [23%] {19%} (23%) [20%] [22%] [22%] {21%} (23%) [23%]
• Neutral 13% {14%} (10%) [13%] {15%} (14%) [12%] [14%] [14%] {15%} (15%) [14%]
• Somewhat negative 13% {12%} (14%) [15%] {13%} (12%) [14%] [13%] [13%] {15%} (14%) [14%]
• Very negative 26% {25%} (25%) [27%] {27%} (28%) [30%] [24%] [23%] {20%} (18%) [24%]

Mitt Romney

• Very positive 10% {6%} (6%) [4%] {5%} (6%) [5%] [7%] {6%} [10%]
• Somewhat positive 23% {22%} (25%) [20%] {21%} (21%) [19%] [20%] {19%} [18%]
• Neutral 26% {28%} (26%) [30%] {32%} (30%) [32%] [30%] {30%} [30%]
• Somewhat negative 18% {20%} (21%) [21%] {17%} (17%) [18%] [16%] {13%} [10%]
• Very negative 18% {19%} (15%) [11%] {13%} (12%) [11%] [10%] {12%} [10%]

I'd like you to compare Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on a few qualities that people might look for in a president. For each one, please tell me whether you think that Barack Obama would be better or Mitt Romney would be better on that item.

Who do you think would be better when it comes to:

Being easygoing and likable

• Obama 54%
• Romney 18%

Caring about average people

• Obama 52%
• Romney 22%

Being compassionate enough to understand average people

• Obama 52%
• Romney 23%

Dealing with issues of concern to women

• Obama 49%
• Romney 21%

Looking out for the middle class

• Obama 48%
• Romney 27%

Being knowledgeable and experienced enough to handle the presidency

• Obama 45%
• Romney 30%

Being a good commander-in-chief

• Obama 43%
• Romney 33%

Being consistent and standing up for his beliefs

• Obama 41%
• Romney 30%

Sharing your positions on the issues

• Obama 40%
• Romney 34%

Being honest and straightforward

• Obama 37%
• Romney 30%

Setting the proper moral tone for the country

• Obama 37%
• Romney 35%

Having good ideas for how to improve the economy

• Romney 40%
• Obama 34%

Changing business as usual in Washington

• Romney 36%
• Obama 29%

How confident are you that Barack Obama has the right set of personal characteristics to be president of the United States?

• Extremely confident 25%
• Quite confident 21%
• Only somewhat confident 23%
• Not at all confident 30%

How confident are you that Mitt Romney has the right set of personal characteristics to be president of the United States?

• Extremely confident 11%
• Quite confident 19%
• Only somewhat confident 39%
• Not at all confident 29%

How confident are you that Barack Obama has the right set of goals and policies to be president of the United States?

• Extremely confident 21%
• Quite confident 20%
• Only somewhat confident 25%
• Not at all confident 33%

How confident are you that Mitt Romney has the right set of goals and policies to be president of the United States?

• Extremely confident 11%
• Quite confident 18%
• Only somewhat confident 38%
• Not at all confident 31%

Now, more specifically when talking about candidates for president, I’m going to read two criticisms. One that some people might make about the approach Mitt Romney would take and the other about the approach Barack Obama would take to deal with the economy and the budget deficit. After I read each one tell me if you totally agree with the criticism, mainly agree with the criticism, feel neutral, mainly disagree with the criticism or totally disagree with the criticism. The first one is…


The approach by Mitt Romney relies too much on extending tax reductions for the upper income people and reducing taxes on corporations and reduces the federal budget deficit by cutting domestic spending without cutting the budget of the Defense Department.

• Totally Agree with Criticism 19%
• Mainly Agree with Criticism 25%
• Feel Neutral 27%
• Mainly Disagree with Criticism 15%
• Totally Disagree with Criticism 12%

The approach by Barack Obama relies too much on raising taxes on upper income people and reduces the federal budget deficit by cutting the budget of the Defense Department without cutting domestic programs significantly enough to reduce the budget deficit.

• Totally Agree with Criticism 17%
• Mainly Agree with Criticism 25%
• Feel Neutral 23%
• Mainly Disagree with Criticism 18%
• Totally Disagree with Criticism 16%

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

• Approve 49%
• Disapprove 46%

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

• Approve 45%
• Disapprove 52%

Survey of 1,000 adults, including a subsample of 830 registered voters, was conducted April 13-17, 2012. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points among adults.  Results from the poll conducted February 29 - March 3, 2012 are in curly brackets.  Results from the poll conducted January 22-24, 2012 are in parentheses.  Results from the poll conducted December 7-11, 2011 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted November 2-5, 2011 are in curly brackets.  Results from the poll conducted October 6-10, 2011 are in parentheses.  Results from the poll conducted August 27-31, 2011 are in square brackets.  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.