Right Direction or Wrong Track--numbers don't lie--worse due to O

Right Direction or Wrong Track

25% Say U.S. Heading In Right Direction

Twenty-five percent (25%) of Likely U.S. Voters now say the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken the week ending Saturday, July 2.

The latest finding is up a point from last week, which was the lowest level measured in over two months. In April, prior to the killing of Osama bin Laden, the number of voters who felt the country was heading in the right direction fell into the low 20s, the lowest findings of the Obama presidency, but the figure climbed back up to 29% in early to mid-May. Optimism in the nation’s current course has ranged from a low of 21% to a high of 40% since January 2009.

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of voters say the country is heading down the wrong track, showing no change from the previous survey. Since January 2009, pessimism in the nation’s current direction has ranged from 57% to 72%.

Most Republicans (88%) and voters not affiliated with either political party (67%) believe the country is heading down the wrong track. Democrats are more evenly divided.

Leading up to President Obama's inauguration, the number of voters who felt the country was heading in the right direction remained below 20%. The week of his inauguration in late January 2009, voter confidence rose to 27% and climbed into the low to mid-30s until mid-May of that year. Since then, belief that the country is heading in the right direction has trended lower.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of black voters think the country is heading in the right direction, a view shared by just 20% of whites and 24% of voters of other ethnicities.

A majority (60%) of the Political Class believes the country is heading in the right direction. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Mainstream voters disagree.

As Americans celebrated Independence Day this past Monday, 54% of adults believe the United States is a nation with liberty and justice for all.

But Likely Voters still have a pessimistic outlook on the future of our nation: 46% say America’s best days are in the past, while just 37% say they’re in the future.

On a lighter note, Americans continue to believe that young children are on their computers and other electronic devices too often and think parents should control how much time they spend doing so.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/right_direction_or_wrong_track