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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 February 23.

That’s up from 30% the previous week and is the highest level of optimism since the first week of June 2013. Prior to this week, this finding had seesawed between 29% and 30% every week since mid-December. A year ago, 34% said the country was headed in the right direction.

Early last October during the federal government shutdown, confidence in the country’s course fell to 13%, the lowest finding in five years.

Sixty-one percent (61%) of voters now think the country is headed down the wrong track. That’s down one point from the previous week. It is also the lowest finding since mid-September. Eighty percent (80%) felt the country was on the wrong track in early October, but 58% believed that at this time last year.

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on February 17-23, 2014. 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 66% of voters not affiliated with either major political party still think the country is on the wrong track. Among Democrats, 54% believe the country is heading in the right direction, while 36% think it’s on the wrong track.

Sixty-five percent (65%) of black voters feel the country is headed in the right direction. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of whites and 59% of other minority voters disagree.

Thirty-five percent (35%) of investors think the country is heading in the right direction, compared to 28% of non-investors.

Those who earn $100,000 or more a year are more positive about the direction of the country than those who earn less.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of the Political Class feel the country is headed in the right direction, while 74% of Mainstream voters feel it is on the wrong track.

For the third week in a row, Democrats hold the lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot

Forty-four percent (44%) of all voters think the federal government should require every American to buy or obtain health insurance. Forty-six percent (46%) oppose this so-called individual mandate that is part of the new national health care law.

Fifty percent (50%) of Americans don't trust the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates and inflation down.

Thirty-three percent (33%) have filed their income taxes already. Forty-five percent (45%) expect to get a tax refund this year. 

Seventy-eight percent (78%) think it is harder for teachers now to maintain discipline compared to when they were in school.

Crosstabs and historical data are available to Platinum Members only.

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on February 17-23, 2014. 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.

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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