29% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction

For the second week in a row, 29% 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 February 9.

This finding has fluctuated between 29% and 30% every week since mid-December and is consistent with attitudes for much of the Obama presidency. A year ago, 38% said the country was heading in the right direction.

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

During President Obama’s first months in office, the number of voters who felt the country was headed in right direction rose steadily to 40% in May 2009. In 2010 and 2011, confidence fell to the narrow range of 14% to 19%, levels similar to those measured in the final months of the George W. Bush administration. Optimism began rising again in mid-December 2011 to spike in the low 40s just before and after the president’s November 6, 2012 reelection. Confidence in the nation’s course ran in the high 20s and low 30s for most of 2013.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters now think the country is headed down the wrong track. That’s down one point from the previous week which was the highest negative finding so far this year. Eighty percent (80%) felt the country was on the wrong track in early October, but 55% believed that at this time last year.

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on February 3-9, 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-nine percent (89%) of Republicans and 70% of voters not affiliated with either major political party still think the country is on the wrong track. Among Democrats, 52% believe the country is heading in the right direction, while 37% think it’s on the wrong track.

Fifty-five percent (55%) of black voters feel the country is headed in the right direction. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of whites and 55% of other minority voters disagree.

Fifty-six percent (56%) of those under 40 feel the country’s on the wrong track, a view shared by two-thirds of older voters.

Thirty-eight percent (38%) of government employees think the country is heading in the right direction, compared to 29% of those who work in the private sector.

Seventy-three percent (73%) of the Political Class say the country is on the right course, but 78% of Mainstream voters think it is heading in the wrong direction.

Seventy-four (74%) of all voters rate their health insurance coverage as good or excellent. But 32% now say their insurance coverage has changed because of the new health care law.

Forty-two percent (42%) of working Americans expect to be earning more a year from now.

Democrats have reclaimed their lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot.

Voters continue to put tougher border control well ahead of creating a pathway to citizenship for most illegal immigrants, but they‘re all for citizenship for children brought here illegally who are succeeding in America. Most also see citizenship as an effective recruiting tool for the military.

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