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31% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction

Thirty-one percent (31%) of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken the week ending Sunday, December 26. That's up eight points from last week and the highest level of optimism found since late October.

This peak in confidence comes on the heels of two straight weeks of record pessimism.

Confidence that the country is moving in the right direction is up to 57% among Democrats from 39% last week.

 That’s closer to the sentiments of Democratic voters prior to the midterm elections.

Among all voters, confidence in the nation's current course hovered around the 30% mark for roughly a year but had begun to go down since the end of November.

Sixty-four percent (64%) of voters say the country now is heading down the wrong track, the lowest level found since mid-October. Following passage of the health care bill, this number fell slightly but has since returned to levels found prior to the passage of the bill.

Just 37% of those in President Obama's party feel the country is on the wrong track, compared to 85% of Republicans and 72% of voters not affiliated with either major political party.
 
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