5 Good Signs for Democrats

First Read digs into the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll and offers five observations that are good news for Democrats:

• President Obama’s job-approval rating now stands at 52%, up one point from last month. It’s his highest rating since his second inauguration in Jan. 2013.
• Just 32% think the country is headed in the right direction, but that’s up 14 points in the past month (the July poll was taken in the aftermath of the violence in Dallas, Louisiana and Minnesota).
• Democrats hold a four-point advantage in congressional preference, with 47% of voters wanting a Democratic-controlled Congress and 43% wanting a GOP-controlled one. It was 46%-46% in July’s poll.
• 60% of Democrats say they’re satisfied with Clinton as their nominee, versus 45% of Republicans who say that about Trump.
• There are signs the nation is more optimistic and wants more continuity than the conventional wisdom suggests: 54% say they are mainly hopeful and optimistic about the country’s future, and 50% believe the nation should continue with Democrats in the White House, versus 48% who say it’s time for change.