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32% Say U.S Heading in Right Direction

Thirty-two percent (32%) 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 16. 

This finding is up three points from 29% the previous three weeks. 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-two percent (62%) now believe the nation is headed down the wrong track, down a point from the last three weeks.

A year ago at this time, 29% felt the country was heading in the right direction, while 63% 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 12-16, 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-three percent (83%) of Republicans and 68% of voters not affiliated with either major political party say the country is on the wrong track. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of Democrats agree, but 54% think it’s heading in the right direction.

Fifty-six percent (56%) of black voters think the country is heading in the right direction, but most whites (67%) and other minority voters (53%) think it’s on the wrong track.

Men are more likely than women to say the country is on the right track.

Fifty-three percent (53%) of Americans believe that, compared to people who make more or less than they do, they pay more than their fair share of taxes.

Candidates across the political spectrum promise to help the middle class by cutting taxes. But most Americans think those candidates don’t even agree on who makes up the middle class, and they don’t believe their promises to cut taxes.

While California is making headlines with its mandated reduction in water usage, Americans are overwhelmingly confident in their own water supply. But many question whether their local governments are doing enough to protect it.

Voters remain critical of the nation’s public schools and still strongly favor giving parents choices when it comes to their children's education.

The number of voters who believe terrorists are winning the fight against the United States and its allies continues to grow, while views of Muslims in general and U.S. relations with the Islamic world have worsened.

Voters are almost evenly divided over New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s proposal to reduce or eliminate Social Security payouts to wealthier Americans, but they worry that those who earn less might lose their benefits, too, to keep Social Security afloat.

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The national telephone survey of 2,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports from April 12-16, 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.

Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

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