Voters have very mixed feelings about America’s place in the world in the years ahead.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 31% of U.S. voters think the United States will be the most powerful nation in the world at the end of the 21st century. Thirty-five percent (35%) disagree and 34% are not sure.

These numbers correlate closely with findings among American adults at the beginning of the year and in March.

At the beginning of 2009, 37% of Americans said the United States would be the world’s most powerful nation at the end of the century. By March, that number had fallen slightly to 34%.

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Men are slightly more confident than women about America’s future status. Democrats are more positive than Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party.

Conservatives are twice as likely as liberals to believe that the United States will not be number one by the end of the century. Middle income Americans are less confident than those who earn both more and less than they do.

As is often the case, there is a wide difference between populist or Mainstream America and those who make up the Political Class. A majority of the Political Class (54%) still sees the United States as the world’s most powerful nation by the year 2100, compared to 22% of Mainstream Americans.

Much of the concern about America’s future is undoubtedly a reflection of the country’s current economic situation.

While President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in late May that they see optimistic signs in the U.S. economy, only 26% of Americans believe the economy is getting better. Data from the Rasmussen Consumer Index shows that 50% believe the economy is getting worse.

Just 49% say their home is now worth more than the money they still owe on their mortgage, a 12-point drop from December. Forty-two percent (42%) of Americans now say it will take more than three years for housing prices to recover, up slightly from January.

As for the $787-billion stimulus plan approved by Congress in February, just 31% think it has helped the economy, while 27% say it has hurt. Forty-five percent (45%) now say the rest of the new government spending authorized by the plan should be canceled.

Most voters think the government should get out of the bailout business right now. They also continue to worry that the government will do too much to “help” the economy.

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