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29% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction

For the second week in a row, 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 January 12.

That's down from 30% two weeks ago, 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, 36% 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 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 again in mid-December 2011.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters now think the country is headed down the wrong track. That's up one point from the week before which was the lowest finding since mid-September. Eighty percent (80%) felt the country was on the wrong track in early October, but just 57% believed that at this time last year. 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 2012.

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on January 6-12, 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-seven percent (87%) of Republicans and 69% of voters not affiliated with either major political party still think the country is on the wrong track. Among Democrats, 48% believe the country is heading in the right direction, while 40% think it’s on the wrong track.

Most black voters (54%) feel the country is headed in the right direction. Seventy percent (70%) of whites and 56% of other minority voters disagree.

Fifty-five percent (55%) of those under 40 think the country’s on the wrong track, a view shared by 67% of older voters.

Married voters and those with children living with them are even more pessimistic than voters who are not married and don’t have children in the home.

Democrats now lead Republicans by four points on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot.

Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters have an unfavorable opinion of the new health care law.

The president has declared income equality to be his number one issue this year, but 55% continue to rate economic growth as more important than economic fairness.

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 January 6-12, 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

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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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