Read the full NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll and the stories about it from the Journal and NBC
The controversy over the racially-charged statements of Barack Obama's ex-pastor, Jeremiah Wright, have not hurt him in his match-ups against Hillary Clinton or John McCain, according to an NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll conducted March 24-25. But even though the Journal's headline was "Pastor Flap Hasn't Hurt Obama," the numbers did show that 55 percent of all voters were disturbed by Wright's statements and 32 percent of those who saw Obama's speech on race were "dissatisfied with (the) explanation of association with Reverend Wright."
In the Democratic race, Clinton and Obama are even at 45 percent each. The last NBC News/Journal poll two weeks ago had Clinton ahead 47 percent to 43 percent. The bad news for Clinton is that more voters view her negatively than positively - 48 percent somewhat or very negative, 37 percent very or somewhat positive. Two weeks ago, 45 percent viewed her positively, and 43 percent viewed her negatively. Obama is viewed positively by 49 percent of voters and negatively by 32 percent.
But the poll shows some baggage for Obama as well. Fifty-five percent of all voters said the rhetoric of Obama's ex-pastor disturbed them a great deal or somewhat, with 59 percent of white voters and 34 percent of black voters holding that opinion. Of the 69 percent of voters who saw or heard Obama's speech on race, 55 percent said they were satisfied with his explanation of his association with Wright, while 32 percent were dissatisfied. White voters were satisfied by a 55 percent to 35 percent margin while black voters were satisfied by 77 percent to 9 percent. Forty-seven percent of all voters who saw the speech said Obama had sufficiently addressed the issue but 37 percent said he had not. In the context of the Wright controversy, about a quarter of voters said they knew too little about Obama's background and views.
Earlier polls on the impact of the Wright story and Obama's attempt to address it similarly showed some residue of doubt. A CBS News poll released March 21 said 69 percent of those who saw the speech thought Obama did a good job, but the number of voters who saw Obama as someone who would unite the country dropped from 67 percent in February to 52 percent.
A Rasmussen Reports survey said 56 percent of voters remained somewhat or very concerned about the Wright relationship despite the speech. When Fox News asked whether the association with Wright made voters have doubts about Obama, 54 percent said "no," but 35 percent said "yes."
Forty-one percent of Democrats in the NBC/Journal poll said that they would not consider a candidate legitimate if he or she lost among delegates elected by voters but won the nomination with the support of superdelegates, compared to 32 percent who would consider that nominee to be legitimate.
In the general election match-ups, Obama is ahead of McCain 44 percent to 42 percent, and McCain is ahead of Clinton by 46 percent to 44 percent. The margin of error is 3.7 percent. Forty-five percent of voters have a favorable view of McCain while 25 percent had a negative view.
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