Right Direction or Wrong Track

Views of Nation's Future Remain Stable - and Negative

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Although the United States will swear in a new commander-in-chief in just a few days, voter perceptions about the nation’s future remain largely negative.

Just 17% of American voters think the U.S. is moving in the right direction, while 75% believe it is heading down the wrong track. Those figures have grown only slightly more optimistic since December, when 16% answered right direction and 77% said wrong track.

Overall, the percentage of voters who say the nation is moving in the right direction has ranged from 10% to 24% since August of 2007. The range of results for voters who believe the nation is heading down the wrong track in that same time period has been from 68% to 87%.

Confidence in the nations future enjoyed a modest surge just after the election, when one in five voters (21%) thought the nation was heading in the right direction, compared to just 14% the previous week. However, that was the last time the number climbed over 20%.

Democrats continue to be the most optimistic, with a quarter (24%) who says the nation is heading in the right direction. Only 13% of Republicans and unaffiliated voters agree. Eighty percent (80%) of Republicans and 78% of unaffiliated voters say the nation is heading down the wrong track, and 69% of Democrats feel the same way.

While nearly a third of black voters (31%) say the nation is moving in the right direction, only 16% of whites agree. Black voters are more optimistic than they were in December, when only 27% thought the nation was moving in the right direction, while white voters’ opinions have changed little. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of white voters believe the nation is moving down the wrong track, compared to only 61% of blacks.

Men and women share similar sentiments, with 17% of each saying the nation is heading in the right direction. Seventy-six percent (76%) of men and 74% of women say the opposite is true.

From an economic standpoint, a separate survey found that 39% of Americans believe the U.S. economy will be stronger in a year, while 31% say it will be weaker. The Rasmussen Consumer & Investor Indexes continue to hover around record lows, and the majority of the nation’s consumers say the economy will only get worse.

In terms of national security, only 26% of Americans say the nation will be safer at the end of 2009 than it is today.

The president-elect continues to earn high ratings in the daily Presidential Approval index.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_ ... rong_track