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27% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction

Twenty-seven percent (27%) of Likely U.S. Voters now think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending August 20.

This finding is down a point from 28% the week before.

Every week from late December through the beginning of March, 30% or more of voters said that the country is heading in the right direction, but the weekly findings fell back into the mid- to high 20s. Then following the U.S. Supreme Court decisions upholding Obamacare and gay marriage in late June, the number of voters who said the country is heading in the right direction climbed again into the low 30s and stayed there for three weeks. 

Sixty-six percent (66%) of voters now believe the nation is headed down the wrong track, up two points from the last survey.

A year ago at this time, 23% felt the country was heading in the right direction, while 69% 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 August 16-20, 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.

Eighty-five percent (85%) of Republicans and 74% of voters not affiliated with either major political party think the country is on the wrong track. Democrats by a narrower 48% to 41% margin believe the country is headed in the right direction.

Most voters of all ages agree the country is headed in the wrong direction, but voters under 40 remain less pessimistic than their elders are. 

Seventy-three percent (73%) of whites and 53% of other minority voters believe the country is headed down the wrong track. Black voters are evenly divided.

Among voters who disapprove of the job President Obama is doing, 86% or more think the country is heading in the wrong direction. 

Voters are less satisfied with the health care they personally receive and continue to believe the national health care law will make the system worse.

Most voters think the United States should build a wall along the Mexican border to help stop illegal immigration and should deport all illegal immigrants who have been convicted of a felony in this country.

Most also feel enforcement of current immigration laws is key, but a growing number believe new laws should go on the books in order to stop illegal immigration.

Voters think heads should roll following the Environmental Protection Agency’s acknowledgement that it unleashed a massive toxic waste spill in Colorado.

With Americans increasingly worried about their safety on the home front, more voters than ever think the United States needs to spend more on national security.

Few voters think America's relationship with the Muslim world is improving, but they are more confident now that Muslims around the world don't see the United States as an enemy.

Yes, black lives matter, but don’t all lives matter? That seems to be the subject of some political dispute.

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The national telephone survey of 2,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports from August 16-20, 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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