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25% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction

Twenty-five percent (25%) 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 July 6.

This is down one point from 26% the week before and is the lowest finding this year. Voters haven't been this pessimistic since the beginning of last December. The number who say the country is heading in the right direction has been less than 30% for 19 out of 27 weeks this year.

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

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of voters now think the country is headed down the wrong track. That's unchanged from the previous week and remains the highest negative of 2014. Eighty percent (80%) felt the country was on the wrong track in early October.

A year ago, 27% said the country was heading in the right direction, while 64% said it was going down the wrong track.

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on June 30-July 6, 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-eight percent (88%) of Republicans and 72% of voters not affiliated with either major political party think the country is on the wrong track. Democrats agree by a narrow 46% to 43% margin.

Eighty-five percent (85%) of conservative voters and 63% of moderates say the country is on the wrong track. Liberals agree by a 47% to 41% margin.

Fifty-one percent (51%) of black voters think the country is heading in the right direction. Seventy-three percent (73%) of whites and 60% of other minority voters disagree.

Married voters and those with children in the home are more pessimistic than unmarrieds and voters who don't have children living with them. 

Evangelical Christians feel even more strongly than those of other faiths that the country is heading down the wrong track.

Only 37% of all voters think President Obama is doing a good or excellent job dealing with the economy.

Just 20% believe the scientific debate about global warming is over.

Forty-six percent (46%) think that the administration, through its statements and policies, has encouraged the current wave of illegal immigration.

Fifty-one percent (51%) oppose the national health care law’s requirement that every American have health insurance.

Only 23% of Americans expect the unemployment rate to be lower a year from now.

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 June 30-July 6, 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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