Obama Will Win, Can't Fix Economy

If a national poll can combine devastating news and a bright ray of sunshine for President Obama, this is it. A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey shows that about 75% of respondents don't like Obama's economic policies and fear the country is headed in the wrong direction. But in hypothetical match-ups, Obama leads Mitt Romney by 6 points and Herman Cain by 15 points. “Is he [Bill] Clinton or [Jimmy] Carter? I don’t think you can answer it right now,” one pollster tells MSNBC.

While respondents slammed Obama over the federal deficit, banks, and Wall Street, more than half liked his foreign-policy work, and a striking 71% approve of his plan to withdraw troops from Iraq by December. What's more, 71% like him personally. In other interesting tidbits:

• 60% say Obama inherited the nation's economic woes.
• 76% say the US favors a wealthy minority over the rest of Americans.
• Half of all respondents aren't exactly on the fence: They support either the Tea Party or the Occupy movement.

(Check out polls that say Cain's numbers have finally slipped, and New Yorkers support Occupy.)