First Read: “There are plenty of storylines and new numbers from our latest national NBC/WSJ poll, but here’s maybe the most important number of all: 51% — as in President Obama’s approval rating, which is his highest mark in the poll since his second inauguration. Why is it important? Because it means that Obama will be an asset to Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail unlike he was in the 2014 midterms, when his approval rating was in the low 40s.”

“Of course, an incumbent president with a 50%-plus job-approval rating isn’t a guarantee for a party keeping the White House — see 2000. But it’s certainly better than what Republicans experienced in 2008, when George W. Bush’s rating was 27% in our April 2008 NBC/WSJ poll. Our current poll found only 39% saying they would consider voting for Obama if he could run for a third term, but it’s higher than the 34% who said this about Bill Clinton in Sept. 2000. And 78% of African Americans, 72% of Democrats, 62% of Latinos, and 50% of those ages 18-34 said they would consider voting for Obama again if they could.”