This year's presidential race could shape up to resemble the 1996, 2000 or 2004 races, if yesterday's NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll is any indication, NBC's First Read team writes. It will likely be a close race, but President Barack Obama will probably not be routed the way George H.W. Bush was in 1992, according to First Read. Obama leads Mitt Romney by six percentage points in the NBC/WSJ poll — but where Obama is perceived as weak on the economy, Romney is perceived as strong. The new poll showed Obama with the support of 49 percent of registered voters and Romney with that of 43 percent. Romney led on the economy by six points, but the poll did contain good economic news for Obama: A plurality — 36 percent — of respondents said Obama's policies had helped the economy, up from 20 percent last year.
