WASHINGTON – As President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans re-engage over economic issues, Americans offer a gloomy assessment of the state of the nation. But those perceptions appear to be heavily influenced by political identification and partisan leanings, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Fifty-seven percent of Americans describe the state of the country in negative terms. But while three-quarters of self-identified Republicans and 6 in 10 independents say the condition of the nation is either “not so good” or “poor,” 6 in 10 Democrats say it is either “good” or “excellent.”
While overall sentiment about the state of the nation is negative, opinions about the country’s direction have improved sharply in the past few months. Thirty-nine percent say the country is going in the right direction, up 11 percentage points since October.
For those who express a positive view, the economy is the single biggest reason why. About 4 in 10 cite it as the reason they feel optimistic. Those with a negative view cite various reasons – economic, political, social or national security issues – although a fifth say the economy is the main reason they feel the way they do.
Not waiting for his State of the Union address Tuesday night, the president has used January to offer a series of proposals, including tax cuts for the middle class, tax increases for the wealthy and free community college. Most have drawn a hostile reaction from Republican lawmakers.
With Republicans now in control of both houses of Congress, compromise will be necessary to get things done, but the president and GOP leaders are at loggerheads over policy initiatives, reflecting the attitudes of their respective party bases.
The poll shows the improving economy has lessened the widespread pessimism that has existed throughout the Obama presidency, which began in the depths of the worst recession since the Great Depression.
The administration’s efforts to deal with the recession – including the economic stimulus package and bailouts of financial institutions and the auto industry – have been the subject of fierce partisan debate over the past six years.
Today, more Americans say the president’s policies have helped the economy improve than say those policies slowed the recovery, by 42 percent to 27 percent. But while 72 percent of Democrats credit the administration’s policies, just 12 percent of Republicans agree.
Another sign of improvement is the assessment of personal financial situations. The new poll finds as many who say they are better off since Obama took office as who say they are not as well off (both 25 percent), while about half say things are about the same.
That is the first time during Obama’s presidency that more people didn’t say their personal finances were worse under his leadership than better.
But while Democrats say they are better off by a margin of about 3 to 1, Republicans say the opposite by the same margin. Among those who say they are generally better off, with incomes of $75,000 and above, the partisan gap is even larger.
This pattern is broken on the issue of maintaining living standards. Overall, more than 6 in 10 Americans say they are very or somewhat worried about being able to maintain their current standard of living.
Those with incomes below $50,000 are 20 points more likely to express worries than are those with incomes above $100,000.
Generally, Republicans are only slightly more likely than Democrats to say they are worried about keeping up their current living standards (64 percent to 57 percent). However, partisan divisions are clear for wealthier Americans.
Among those with incomes of at least $75,000, just 4 in 10 Democrats and independents who lean Democratic say they are worried about keeping up their current lifestyle. Those worries rise above 6 in 10 among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents at similar income levels.
Half of all Americans view income inequality as a major problem facing the country, while one-third say it is a problem, although not a major one. Democrats are 24 points more likely than Republicans to call it a major problem.
At the same time, half of all Americans say the economic recovery has mostly helped the wealthy, with nearly 4 in 10 saying it has helped all Americans. Partisan differences are not large here.
When asked who has better ideas for dealing with income inequality, 44 percent say Democrats and 33 percent say Republicans. Seven in 10 Republicans say their party has better ideas for dealing with income inequality. Nearly 8 in 10 Democrats prefer their party’s ideas.
White working-class Americans trust Republicans over Obama to deal with the country’s major problems by a margin of 26 points. But on the question of who has better ideas for dealing with income inequality, the margin among white working-class Americans favoring Republicans over Democrats is cut in half.
The Post-ABC poll was conducted Jan. 12-15 among a random national sample of 1,003 adults interviewed by telephone, including 311 cellphone-only respondents. Sampling, data collection and tabulation are by Abt-SRBI of New York.
