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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 March 9.

That’s up one point from 28% the previous week, the lowest level of optimism since mid-December, but down from a recent high of 32% two weeks ago. For most of the last three months, this finding has hovered in the 29% to 30% range.

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

Sixty-four percent (64%) of voters now think the country is headed down the wrong track. That’s unchanged from the previous week. Eighty percent (80%) felt the country was on the wrong track in early October. 

A year ago, the findings were identical: 29% said the country is heading in the right direction, and 64% disagreed.

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on March 3-9, 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-nine percent (89%) of Republicans and 71% of voters not affiliated with either major political party think the country is on the wrong track. Among Democrats, 52% believe the country is heading in the right direction, while 39% think it is on the wrong track.

Sixty percent (60%) of black voters think the country is headed in the right direction. Just 23% of whites and 33% of other minority voters agree.

An overwhelmingly majority (92%) of voters who are part of the Tea Party movement believe the country is heading down the wrong track. Among those not in the grassroots movement, 35% say the country is heading in the right direction, while 57% say it’s moving down the wrong track.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of voters who chose the Democrat on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot think the country is headed in the right direction. Among those who opt for the Republican instead, 92% say the country is on the wrong track.

Democrats and Republicans are tied on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot.

President Obama has proposed $55 billion in new government spending for fiscal 2015, but 50% of voters think his administration has already raised spending too much.

Seventy-three percent (73%) of Americans know someone who is out of work and looking for a job, the highest level since last June. LINK Forty-six percent (46%) know someone who has given up looking for a job. 

Most Americans still believe private sector workers work harder than government employees but have less job security. One-out-of-two think government workers make more money, too.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) continue to believe that the cost of health care will go up under the new health care law.

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 March 3-9, 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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