Talks about conflicting poll numbers on the toll of l’affaire Wright and the effectiveness of Obama’s Wright denouncement last Tuesday. A new New York Times/CBS poll suggests that Obama’s denouncement was a success, with the Illinois senator enjoying a 12-point lead over Hillary Clinton, an eight-point improvement from a Times/CBS poll released just a few days earlier. The poll does include a cautionary note for Obama:

While just 24 percent of voters said they thought the Wright issue would matter a lot or some to them in the fall, 44 percent said it would matter a lot or some to “most people you know.”

Now check out this jaw-dropping report on Clinton taking the lead in USA Today’s new poll:

In the USA TODAY survey, taken Thursday through Saturday, Clinton leads Obama among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents by 7 percentage points, the first time in three months she has been ahead. Two weeks ago, before the controversy over comments by Jeremiah Wright reignited, Obama led by 10 points.

That would be quite a turnaround. And even the Times/CBS poll notes that among all Democrats–whether or not they have voted in primaries or plan to–Obama and Clinton are tied. So despite evidence that Obama mitigated damage from Wright last week, the Wright toll appears to be real and lasting.
And Clinton has largely stayed away from bringing Wright up on the campaign trail. There are plenty of signs that the GOP and its allies won’t be nearly so reluctant.

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