Interesting internals in new NBC/WSJ poll

Digging into the 'internals' provides an interesting look behind the surface numbers of potential Obama and McCain voters (49-43, 47-42 without leaners).

Obama's positives are significantly better than McCain's, 52-43, but even stronger when you look at those saying they have a 'very positive' view of either candidate, 30-18. Also, while nobody seems to like Congress, the numbers on whether it would be good to have the same party in charge of both the Congress and the White House have increased, looking a lot like they did just before the 2000 election. Since there still is a considerable plurality (49-36) preferring Democratic control of Congress, that seems like good news for the Democrats and Obama.

The majority of respondents who indicated that economic issues were most important to them, along with their perception that Obama would handle those issues better, suggest that changing the subject is going to be an uphill battle for the McCain campaign.

One surprise (at least to me), though, is that McCain's framing -- that the crisis stems from corruption and waste in Washington -- wins out over those who believe that we need a government that will change Bush Administration policies and increase oversight to protect consumers, and it does so by 58-38. That's a new question. A similar one, on which there is comparative data, asks whether government is trying to do too many things or should be doing more. Doing more has the edge 47-45, but the trend is towards the belief that government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. Of course, as with any poll, there's always the issue of whether the questions mean the same things to different respondents, and whether that meaning is stable over time. The increased numbers thinking government is trying to do too much that should be left to businesses and individuals may now be registering their disapproval of the government stepping in to rescue banks, AIG, etc. rather than a resurgent belief that the government should leave markets and the economy alone.