27% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction

Twenty-seven percent (27%) 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 October 12.

The number who say the country is heading in the right direction is down two points from the previous week. This finding has been below 30% most weeks for the past year.

Sixty-five percent (65%) of voters now believe the nation is headed down the wrong track. This is up two points from the previous survey.

A year ago at this time during the partial federal government shutdown confidence in the country’s direction fell to a five-year low of 13%, while 80% said the country was on the wrong track.

Interestingly, despite the concern registered at that time, 82% of voters now say the impact of the shutdown on them personally has been small at best, with 37% who say it was minor and 45% who say the shutdown had no impact on them at all.

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on October 6-12, 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 70% of voters not affiliated with either major political party think the country is on the wrong track. Democrats say the country is heading in the right direction by a 48% to 42% margin.

Roughly two-thirds of voters of all ages agree the country is on the wrong track. 

Fifty-three percent (53%) of blacks thinks the country is headed in the right direction. Seventy percent (70%) of whites and 60% of other minority voters say it's on the wrong track. 

Eighty-six percent (86%) of conservatives and 60% of moderates say the country is headed down the wrong track. Liberals feel the country is going in the right direction by a 48% to 40% margin. 

Sixty-two percent (62%) of the Political Class believe the country is headed in the right direction, but 77% of Mainstream voters disagree. 

Fewer voters than ever think either major political party has a plan for the nation’s future, with most still convinced that neither represents the American people. 

Voters continue to hold a negative view of the federal government, and most say they want the era of big government to end.

The number of voters who say their health insurance coverage has changed because of the new health care law continues to increase, and the vast majority of those voters say the change has been for the worse.  

Most Americans agree that the minimum wage was not intended to be a wage that someone could live on but favor raising it from its current level of $7.25 an hour. They're more closely divided, however, when asked if raising the minimum wage will help the economy. 

Most also still rate their lives positively. 

Crosstabs and historical data are available to Platinum Members only.

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