Most Think America Will Be Great Again

The coronavirus has done little to dent voters’ optimism about America’s future, and most believe the country will be great again.

Just 21% of Likely U.S. Voters agree with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s statement that “we’re not going to make America great again. It was never that great.” A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 62% disagree. This compares to 17% and 67% respectively when Cuomo made the comment in an August 2018 speech. Seventeen percent (17%) remain undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Thirty-two percent (32%) of his fellow Democrats share Cuomo’s view that “we’re not going to make America great again.” Only 11% of Republicans and 17% of voters not affiliated with either major party agree.

Forty-six percent (46%) of all voters think America’s best days are still in the future, down from 50% in January and an all-time high of 54% in April of last year. Thirty-four percent (34%) say it’s best days are in the past. Nineteen percent (19%) are not sure.

But prior to the last couple years, the number of voters who felt America’s best days were in the future ran in only the mid- to upper 30s in most regular surveys since November 2006. As recently as May 2017, 52% thought America’s best days were in the past.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted April 30 and May 3, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Voters are more eager to get back to work but aren’t convinced things will be returning to normal for many by next month.  Most remain worried, too, that they’ll get the coronavirus if they return to the workplace.

Men are more optimistic than women about America’s future. Voters under 40 are far more likely than their elders to agree that America will not be great again.

Whites (48%) are more confident than blacks (39%) and other minority voters (42%) that America’s best days are in the future.

Republicans (55%) share that optimistic view more than Democrats (42%) and unaffiliated voters (41%) do.

Fifty-three percent (53%) of voters who disagree with Cuomo’s statement about American greatness think the country’s best days are in the future. Among those who agree that America was never that great, only 41% see the best days ahead.

Forty percent (40%) of all Americans now say they or someone in their immediate family has lost their job because of the coronavirus outbreak.

As the coronavirus closes many businesses and takes the stock market on a thrill ride, confidence in the U.S. economy has plunged, dropping a staggering 45 points from the previous month to 94.6 in the Rasmussen Reports Economic Index. This is the lowest finding in six years of surveying and four points below the April 2014 baseline.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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