Last week, an NBC/WSJ poll found that voters are far more concerned with John McCain’s closeness with George W. Bush than Barack Obama’s closeness with Jeremiah Wright, despite the media emphasis on the latter instead of the prior.
With that in mind, perhaps the results of the new NYT/CBS poll shouldn’t be too surprising.
A majority of American voters say that the furor over the relationship between Senator Barack Obama and his former pastor has not affected their opinion of Mr. Obama, but a substantial number say that it could influence voters this fall should he be the Democratic presidential nominee, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. […]
The poll, conducted after Mr. Obama held a news conference on Tuesday in which he renounced his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., for making incendiary comments, found that most Americans said they approved of the way Mr. Obama had responded to the episode and considered his criticism of Mr. Wright appropriate.
Among Dems nationally, Obama rebounded a bit, and now leads Clinton 50% to 38%. Both Obama and Clinton lead John McCain in general-election match-ups, by similar margins (Clinton is ahead by 12 points, Obama by 11).
These results come with a few caveats. First, the Democratic sample was pretty small nationally. Second, voters approve of the way Obama handled the Wright controversy, but nevertheless believe Obama’s denunciation was more politically convenient than sincere. Third, while less than a fourth of Americans say they care about the Wright story, 44% said they believe most people they know will be influenced by the controversy.
And perhaps most importantly, while Obama appears to have weathered the storm, the damage is quite evident — in February, Obama led Clinton by nearly 30 points on who was the stronger Dem for November. Now, the two are essentially tied.
Voters, meanwhile, are far from impressed with the media.
A clear majority of Americans 56% said news outlets had spent too much time covering the Wright story (imagine that). Kevin Drum, meanwhile, found an interesting tidbit while going through the results:
* Compared to the way the news media have treated other candidates, have the news media been harder on Hillary Clinton, easier on Hillary Clinton, or have they treated her the same as other candidates?
Harder 36%, Easier 12%, Same 49%, DK/NA 3%
* Compared to the way the news media have treated other candidates, have the news media been harder on Barack Obama, easier on Barack Obama, or have they treated him the same as other candidates?
Harder 27%, Easier 22%, Same 48%, DK/NA 3%
* Compared to the way the news media have treated other candidates, have the news media been harder on John McCain, easier on John McCain, or have they treated him the same as other candidates?
Harder 11%, Easier 28%, Same 56%, DK/NA 5%
You’ll notice, of course, that McCain’s “easier” number trumps the Dems’ pretty easily. (I’m tempted to follow the H.W. Bush example in ’92 and print up bumper stickers that read, “Annoy the Media: Vote Democratic.”)
As for the “gas-tax holiday” being promoted by McCain and Clinton, voters seem to be sharper than I expected on this. A 49% plurality of all voters said the proposal is a bad idea, and among Dems, a 52% majority rejects the proposal. Similarly, a whopping 70% majority of voters overall said candidates pushing the idea were doing so to score political points, not because they think it’s a good policy.
Of course, whether voters in Indiana and North Carolina feel this way remains to be seen.
Update: As it turns out, if you don’t like the results of the NYT/CBS poll, the latest USA Today/Gallup poll offers nearly the opposite results, showing Clinton surging ahead and claiming the national lead over Obama, 51% to 44%.
And if you don’t like those numbers, the Gallup Daily Tracking poll shows Obama rebounding and claiming a four-point lead, after trailing by four late last week.