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Reuters/Zogby Index: Mood of Americans Improves After Election

November 25, 2008

Survey finds more likely voters believe the U.S. is headed in the right direction; Overwhelming dissatisfaction with the nation's economic policy persists

UTICA,New York(RushPRnews)11/25/08 - The mood of Americans has improved in the past month, with an increase in the number of likely voters who now view the country as headed in the right direction, a new Reuters/Zogby telephone poll shows.

The Reuters/Zogby Index, which measures overall American confidence, has increased to 93.3 from 89.7 in October. The Reuters/Zogby Index includes 10 poll questions that gauge perception of the state of the country and the economy. The telephone survey of 1,014 likely voters nationwide was conducted Nov. 13-15, 2008. It carries a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points.

Reuters/Zogby Index

November
93.3
October
89.7
September
96.3
August 2008
91.9
July 2008
88.7

June 2008

90.4
May 2008

87.9

April 2008

95.5
March 2008

87.7

Feb. 2008

99.3

Jan. 2008

94.2

Dec. 2007

97.3
Nov. 2007

94.9
Oct. 2007

96.0

Sept. 2007

98.8
Aug. 2007

100

Americans more likely to believe the country is headed in the right direction, but overwhelming dissatisfaction with U.S. economic policy holds steady

While most likely voters - 61% - still believe the country is headed on the wrong track, this post-election survey shows this feeling has eased from the 75% who said the country was headed in the wrong direction in October. Nearly one in three (30%) believe now believe the country is headed in the right direction, a jump from 18% who said the same last month.

This month's survey finds a significant decline in the number of Democrats and political independents who believe the country is headed in the wrong direction - 57% of Democrats now see the U.S. as on the wrong track, a drop from 84% who said the same in October. Among independents, 58% view the nation as headed in the wrong direction, compared with 79% last month. Republicans, however, are now slightly more likely to take a negative view of the nation's direction - 67% now feel this way, up from 64% in October.

Despite Americans' slightly-less pessimistic view of the country's direction, overwhelming dissatisfaction with U.S. economic policy remains, with 93% of likely voters who now take a negative view the nation's economic policy, up from 92% who said the same in October. More than two in three likely voters (67%) give U.S. economy a "poor" rating. This month's survey also finds a majority of Americans continue to give their personal financial situation a negative rating (51%), with 16% who rate their personal financial situation as "poor."

President Bush's job approval marks improve slightly from record-low, while ratings for Congress continue to sink

President Bush's job approval ratings have increased slightly in this latest poll to 25%, after hitting a record-low of 21% in October. Positive job ratings from Republicans have increased to 51% this month, from 42% who said the same last month. Favorable ratings from Democrats have improved to 8%, while 19% of political independents now give the President positive approval marks.

While the President's job approval ratings have improved, job performance ratings for Congress have fallen to a new record-low of 8%, from 9% last month. The Democratically-controlled Congress earns positive ratings from 9% of Democrats, a drop from 13% who said the same in October. Republican approval has improved slightly to 9%, from 6% who said the same last month, while Congressional job approval ratings from political independents have fallen to 7% from 10% in October.

For a methodology statement on this poll, please visit:

http://www.zogby.com/methodology/readmeth.cfm?ID=1379

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