29% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction

Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Likely U.S. Voters think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending April 9. 

This finding is unchanged from the previous two weeks. Three weeks ago, 27% felt the country was heading in the right direction, the lowest level of confidence this year. The number of voters who think the country is heading in the right direction has been 30% or higher most weeks since mid-December after generally being in the mid- to high 20s since mid-June 2013.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters now believe the nation is headed down the wrong track, also unchanged from last week.

A year ago at this time, 31% felt the country was heading in the right direction, while 61% thought it was on the wrong track.

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The national telephone survey of 2,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports from April 5-9, 2015. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

The older the voter, the more likely he or she is to believe the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Eighty-one percent (81%) of Republicans and 70% of voters not affiliated with either major political party say the country is on the wrong track. Forty percent (40%) of Democrats agree, but 50% think it’s heading in the right direction.

Black and other minority voters are almost evenly divided over the direction of the country. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of white voters say America is headed down the wrong track.

The more money one earns, the more likely he or she is to think the country is heading in the right direction, but even among those who earn $100,000 or more a year, roughly half say the country is headed down the wrong track. 

Looking ahead to next year’s presidential contest, most voters expect more of the same: two candidates with whom they have very little in common. 

Voters are almost evenly divided over the framework deal the Obama administration has cut with Iran to slow the latter’s nuclear weapons program. But most doubt that Iran will abide by its terms or that its compliance can be verified by the United States. Current events appear to be coloring the views Americans have of a couple longtime foes, as North Korea continues to top the list, with Russia climbing up the ranks as well. 

Fast food giant McDonald’s recently announced it will raise its hourly wage by more than 10% starting this July.  But Americans aren’t thrilled about the possibility of paying higher prices for fast food to support those higher salaries. But most Americans still support raising the overall minimum wage, even though just over half don’t know exactly what the minimum wage currently is. 

Voters remain conflicted over the construction of new nuclear plants in the United States and still tend to think that money would be better spent on new sources of energy.

Fifty percent (50%) of voters now consider themselves pro-choice, while 41% say they are pro-life. Forty-one percent (41%) now think it’s too easy to get an abortion in the United States, up from 33% earlier this year. 

Voters are increasingly critical of the health care they get and predict it will get even worse under the new national health care law.

Crosstabs and historical data are available to Platinum Members only.

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