27% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction

Twenty-seven percent (27%) of Likely U.S. Voters now think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending April 30. 

This finding is up one point from 26% the week before, the lowest level of optimism since mid-December.  The previous low for the year was 27% in mid-March. In January and February, 30% or more of voters said the country was heading in the right direction after generally being in the mid- to high 20s since mid-June 2013.

Sixty-five percent (65%) now believe the nation is headed down the wrong track, down two points from last week’s high for the year.

A year ago at this time, findings were identical: 27% felt the country was heading in the right direction, while 65% thought it was on the wrong track.

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The national telephone survey of 2,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports from April 26-30, 2015. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

The older the voter, the more likely he or she is to believe the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Eighty-two percent (82%) of Republicans and 69% of voters not affiliated with either major political party say the country is on the wrong track. Democrats disagree by a narrow 47% to 43% margin.

Just 36% of blacks and other minority voters now think the country is heading in the right direction. Fifty-three percent (53%) think it is on the wrong track, a view shared by 70% of whites and 51% of other minority voters.

Men are slightly more likely than women to say the country is on the right track. 

Voters continue to doubt they’ll receive all their promised Medicare benefits, but they're less willing to raise the eligibility age to keep the program afloat.

Voters increasingly consider illegal immigration a serious problem and believe controlling the border is the most important thing the government can do, even if using the military is necessary. But they strongly suspect that the government's failure to stop a flood of young illegal immigrants from entering the country last year will lead to more of the same in the warm months ahead.

Most voters still consider America an equitable place to live and feel strongly that newcomers to this country should adopt our way of life.

Americans view the recent rioting in Baltimore as criminal behavior, not legitimate protest. Voters are cautiously supportive of bipartisan efforts to reduce the number of Americans in prison.

Meanwhile, national security concerns are growing.

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