31% Say U.S. is Heading in Right Direction

Thirty-one percent (31%) of Likely U.S. Voters think the country is headed in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending April 13.

The finding is up one point from 30% the previous week. This is the only the second week when the number who say the country is heading in the right direction has inched above the narrow range of 28% to 30% since mid-December.  

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

Sixty-one percent (61%) of voters now think the country is headed down the wrong track. That’s down one point from the previous week. Eighty percent (80%) felt the country was on the wrong track in early October.

A year ago, 31% said the country is heading in the right direction; 60% disagreed.

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on April 7-April 13, 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 68% of voters not affiliated with either major political party think the country is on the wrong track. Among Democrats, 55% believe the country is heading in the right direction, while 35% think it is on the wrong track.

Sixty percent (60%) of black voters think the country is headed in the right direction. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of whites and 54% of other minority voters say the country is headed down the wrong track.

Eighty-five percent (85%) of conservative voters and 58% of moderates believe the country is headed down the wrong track.  Fifty-seven percent (57%) of liberal voters believe it is heading in the right direction.

Members of labor unions believe the country is headed down the wrong track by a 51% to 45% margin. The majority (63%) of non-union members believe the country is headed the wrong way. Seventy-one percent (71%) of voters who have a gun in the household think the country is heading in the wrong direction, compared to 51% of those without a gun in their home.

Just 33% of all voters think America’s best days are still to come. 

Eighty-two percent (82%) rate the quality of health care they receive as good or excellent, but 51% think the U.S. health care system will get worse under Obamacare. 

Fifty-three percent (53%) believe that, compared to people who make more or less than they do, they pay more than their fair share of taxes.

Only 38% think U.S. elections are fair to voters. Sixty-sixty percent (66%) do not believe the federal government has the consent of the governed today. 

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

Crosstabs and historical data are available to Platinum Members only.

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