Poll: 'Didn't build that' message a dud

A pretty amazing result from the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal national poll: Barack Obama's infamous "you didn't build that" comment isn't a net negative.

The survey read respondents some of Obama's comments in context -- "He said if you have a business, you didn’t build that, somebody else made that happen. When we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together." -- and asked how that changed listeners' views of the president.

Thirty-six percent said it made them feel more positively about Obama, 32 percent said it made them view him more negatively and 26 percent said it made no difference.

On one level, it's not really surprising that a comment like this one, coming from a president whose liberal, community-oriented views are no secret, would fail to upend the presidential race. To a lot of Republicans outside of Boston, who privately questioned how much the "didn't build that" message would appeal to, say, a waitress in Columbus or a Wal-Mart greeter in Fairfax County, the results are all too predictable.

But considering the time and messaging weight the Romney campaign and RNC threw into attacking Obama on this point -- it was the theme of a whole day of the Tampa convention -- the lack any apparent impact is notable.

The top line results in the poll, showing Obama 3 points ahead of Romney nationally, track with the POLITICO, CNN and Quinnipiac polling we've posted this week, which had Obama holding a small but slightly contracting lead over Romney and in no sense pulling away from his challenger.