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24% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction

Twenty-four percent (24%) 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 July 27.

This finding, down two points from last week, is the lowest since the beginning of November when the country was fresh off the temporary government shutdown and in the midst of the disastrous rollout of the national health care law. The number who say the country is heading in the right direction has been less than 30% 22 out of 30 weeks this year.

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

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of voters now think the country is headed down the wrong track. This finding, up one point from last week, is also the highest negative finding since last November. Eighty percent (80%) felt the country was on the wrong track in early October 2013.

A year ago, 26% said the country was heading in the right direction, while 65% said it was going down the wrong track.

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on July 21-27, 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 74% of voters not affiliated with either major political party think the country is on the wrong track. Democrats are almost evenly divided.

Eighty-nine percent (89%) of conservative voters and 62% of moderates say the country is on the wrong track. Liberals disagree by a narrow 47% to 40% margin.

Seventy-three percent (73%) of whites and 64% of other minority voters say the country is headed down the wrong track, but just 39% of blacks agree.

Evangelical Christians feel even more strongly than those of other faiths that the country is heading down the wrong track. 

Belief that the United States is winning the War on Terror has plummeted to its lowest level in over 10 years of regular tracking.

Thirty-seven percent (37%) of Americans say crime in their community has increased over the past year.

The Rasmussen Employment Index which measures worker confidence fell another point in July after reaching a six-year high in May.

Dislike of the new national health care law is at its highest level in several months, with half or more of voters continuing to question its impact on the quality and cost of care

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on July 21-27, 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.

Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

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