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27% Say U.S. is Heading in Right Direction

Twenty-seven percent (27%) 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 April 27.

This finding is down two points from the previous week and is the lowest level of optimism since the second week of December. The number who say the country is heading in the right direction had been in the narrow range of 28% to 30% for 16 out of the 19 weeks since then.

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

Sixty-six percent (66%) of voters now think the country is headed down the wrong track, up three points from last week. This is the highest finding of 2014. Eighty percent (80%) felt the country was on the wrong track in early October.

A year ago, 30% said the country is heading in the right direction; 62% disagreed.

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on April 21-27, 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 74% of voters not affiliated with either major political party think the country is on the wrong track. Among Democrats, 49% believe the country is heading in the right direction, while 42% think it is headed down the wrong track.

Those 40 and over are even more pessimistic about the country's direction than younger voters are. Fifty-one percent (51%) of black voters think the country is heading in the right direction. Seventy-one percent (71%) of whites and 61% of other minority voters disagree.

Eighty-seven percent (87%) of conservative voters and 63% of moderates believe the country is headed down the wrong track.  Fifty-one percent (51%) of liberal voters believe it is heading in the right direction.

Seventy percent (70%) of the Political Class believe the country is heading in the right direction, while 77% of Mainstream voters believe it is headed down the wrong track.

Republicans hold a two-point lead over Democrats on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot.

The number of voters who rate President Obama’s leadership as poor (45%) is at the highest level of his entire presidency.

Forty percent (40%) think the federal government should require every American to buy or obtain health insurance. Forty-five percent (45%) oppose this so-called individual mandate contained in the new health care law.

A plurality (49%) says the government bailouts of the financial sector were bad for the country.

Fifty-two percent (52%) believe the government is not aggressive enough in deporting illegal immigrants

The Rasmussen Employment Index which measures worker confidence dipped less than a point in April, coming off a six-year high the month before.

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on April 21-27, 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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