Voters Positive About America’s Future, Greatness, But Party ID Matters

Americans are still confident about where the country is headed, but Democrats are a lot more optimistic than others that the best is still to come.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 47% of Likely U.S. Voters think America’s best days still lie in the future. Thirty-three percent (33%) disagree and say America’s best days are in the past. Twenty percent (20%) are not sure. This is virtually identical to findings in early May as the coronavirus lockdown began to take hold. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

In January before the coronavirus hit, 50% said America’s best days are in the future, down from an all-time high of 54% in April of last year. Prior to the last couple years, however, the number of voters who felt America’s best days were in the future ran in only the mid- to upper 30s in most regular surveys since November 2006.As recently as May 2017, 52% thought America’s best days were in the past.

In the spring, however, 55% of Republicans said America’s best days are in the future, but just 42% of Democrats and 41% of voters not affiliated with either major party agreed. Now with Democrat Joe Biden as the likely new president, 61% of Democrats see a brighter future, compared to 40% of GOP voters and 39% of unaffiliateds.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted November 23-24, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

From the start of the year, the number of voters who feel the country is headed in the right direction ran in the low to mid-40s most weeks but dropped dramatically when the coronavirus lockdown began in the spring. It fell to a low of 24% from late June through mid-July but then began to rebound as some states reopened. By the last full week in October, 41% again felt the country was headed the right way, but that number has been trending down since Election Day to 32% last week.

Also little changed from May is the 23% of voters who agree that “we’re not going to make America great again. It was never that great.” Sixty-three percent (63%) disagree with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s statement disputing President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan. Fifteen percent (15%) are undecided.

Just after Cuomo made the remark in August 2018, 17% agreed, and 67% disagreed.

Most voters across the partisan spectrum disagree with Cuomo, with Republicans the ones who disagree the most.

Those under 40 are the most likely to agree with Cuomo that America was never that great and the strongest believers that the country’s best days lie ahead. Blacks share both views more than whites and other minority voters do.

Most voters who agree with Cuomo (58%) think America’s best days are still to come. Among those who disagree with the governor’s statement about American greatness, only 43% agree.

Just prior to Election Day, economic and consumer confidence had rebounded to their highest levels since the coronavirus lockdown began in March.

Most voters continue to view big government as a problem and don’t want it, but they strongly suspect that more government and higher taxes are on the way with Biden in the White House.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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