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 December 22.

That’s up three points from 26% the previous week and the highest level of confidence since early September. In early October during the federal government shutdown, confidence in the country’s course fell to 13%, the lowest finding in five years. A year ago, 35% said the country was heading in the right direction.

During President Obama’s first months in office, the number of voters who felt the country was headed in the right direction rose steadily to 40% in early May 2009. In 2010 and 2011, confidence fell to the narrow range of 14% to 19%, levels similar to those measured in the final months of the George W. Bush administration. Optimism began easing up in again in mid-December 2011.

Sixty-four percent (64%) of voters now think the country is headed down the wrong track, down two points from the week before and significantly down from a recent high of 80% in October. From January 2009 until October 2012, belief that the country was on the wrong track ranged from 55% to 80%, but it tracked in the low 50s from just before Election Day until early December last year.

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on December 16-22, 2013. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Fieldwork for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology. 

Eighty-six percent (86%) of Republicans and 71% of voters not affiliated with either major party still think the country is on the wrong track. Among Democrats, 50% believe the country is heading in the right direction, while 38% think it's on the wrong track. 

Most black voters (53%) feel the country is heading in the right direction. Seventy percent (70%) of whites and 51% of other minority voters disagree. 

Fifty-three percent (53%) of those under 40 think the country's on the wrong track, a view shared by nearly 70% of older voters. 

Military veterans and those with family members in the military are even more pessimistic about the nation's direction than those who have not served and don't have a family member in uniform. 

Republicans have taken a three-point lead - 42% to 39% - on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot.

Twenty-seven percent (27%) of voters say their health insurance has changed because of the new national health care law.  

Just 29% now have a favorable opinion of the federal government. 

Most voters continue to believe the U.S. economy is fair to women, blacks and Hispanics, but a new high for the year of 66% describe the economy as unfair to the middle class.

But 62% of U.S. homeowners say their home is now worth more than what they still owe on their mortgage. That's the highest finding since Rasmussen Reports began regular tracking on this question in April 2009. 

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