30% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction

Thirty percent (30%) of Likely U.S. Voters continue to think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending January 26.

That’s unchanged from the week before. A year ago, 39% 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 the 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 easing up again in mid-December 2011.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters now think the country is headed down the wrong track. That’s up one point from the previous week. Eighty percent (80%) felt the country was on the wrong track in early October, but 57% 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 January 20-26, 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 66% of voters not affiliated with either major political party still think the country is on the wrong track. Among Democrats, 49% believe the country is heading in the right direction, while 41% think it’s on the wrong track.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of black voters feel the country is headed in the right direction. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of whites and 59% of other minority voters disagree.

Fifty-two percent (52%) of those under 40 think the country’s on the wrong track, a view shared by two-thirds of older voters.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of the Political Class think the country is heading in the right direction, while 77% of Mainstream voters feel it is headed down the wrong track.

Democrats now lead Republicans by five points on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot.

One-in-four (24%) now say their home is worth less than when they purchased it, a five-point increase from November and the highest level of pessimism since June.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters believe most government contracts are awarded to the company with the most political connections rather than one that can provide the best service for the best price.

Nearly one-out-of-three voters now say their health insurance coverage has changed because of the new health care law, and most (52%) continue to view the law unfavorably.

Just 21% believe the federal government has the consent of the governed today. 

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