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Harris Poll: 69% Says America 'Poor' State
As President Bush prepares to address the country in the annual State of the Union, less than one-third (31 percent) of U.S. adults rate the current state of the country as "good," while 69 percent believe it is "poor." Men are more likely to have a favorable perspective, with 37 percent believing the current state of the country is "good," compared to only 26 percent of women, creating an interesting gender gap. As one might expect, a partisan difference exists: only 10 percent of Democrats and 27 percent of Independents believe the state of the country is "good." Interestingly, Republicans are not overwhelmingly pleased with things either, as just over half (57 percent) of them say the state of the country is "good." These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 2,337 U.S. adults surveyed online between January 11 and 18, 2006 by Harris Interactive. One reason for the general state of disquiet in the country may be that there is a negative perception of the state on many specific issues. More than half (58 percent) of adults believe that the war on terrorism is going poorly, while six in 10 (60 percent) believe the same about the strengthening of the economy -- and these are the two things perceived to be going the best on our list. Almost two-thirds (65 percent) of adults believe rebuilding the Gulf Coast is going poorly, while 72 percent say the same of making prescription drugs affordable and 73 percent say this about making taxes more fair. At the very bottom of the list are the war in Iraq (78 percent say it is going poorly), strengthening Social Security (80 percent say it is going poorly) and improving immigration policy (81 percent say it is going poorly). Overall, there is not a great deal of change in perceptions from 2006, with one major exception. In 2006, 30 percent of adults said the war in Iraq was going excellent or pretty good. This year, that number is down to just 19 percent. Looking specifically to what President Bush should emphasize in the State of the Union address, about half (51 percent) say the war in Iraq is one of two issues that are most important to hear about Tuesday evening. This is followed by strengthening the economy (33 percent), the war on terrorism (29 percent), improving immigration policy (25 percent) and strengthening Social Security (20 percent). While all four generations believe the war in Iraq is one of the two most important issues for the President to emphasize, there is a difference in opinion further down the list. Baby Boomers (those ages 43 to 61) are more likely than Echo Boomers (ages 18 to 30) and Gen Xers (ages 31 to 42) to believe strengthening Social Security is one of the two most important issues to emphasize (26 percent, as compared to 15percent and 18 percent, respectively). Over one-third (35 percent) of Matures (those ages 62 and over) say improving immigration policy is important for President Bush to emphasize while almost one-quarter (24 percent) of Baby Boomers and just 19 percent of Echo Boomers feel the same way. There are also partisan differences, but surprisingly they are not that dramatic. For example, all three partisan groups believe the war in Iraq should be emphasized, but almost six in 10 Democrats (59 percent) say so as compared to just under half of Republicans and Independents (48 percent and 49 percent respectively). Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say that the war on terrorism should be emphasized (42 percent versus 19 percent) while Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say strengthening Social Security should be emphasized (25 percent versus 17 percent). The difference of opinions on Iraq between 2006 and 2007 is noteworthy. In 2006, 51 percent of adults said strengthening the economy was one of the two most important issues followed by 32 percent who said the war in Iraq. One year later, the numbers flip -- 51 percent say it is Iraq and 33 percent say it is the economy. One wonders if people feel the economy is doing that much better or is the situation in Iraq that much worse. Finally, we asked adults if they will watch the State of the Union. Just over one-third (36 percent) say they will watch it, while 38 percent say maybe and 27 percent say no. Republicans are more likely to support President Bush, with just under half (48 percent) of members of the President's party saying they will watch Tuesday night, compared to 36 percent of Independents and 28 percent of Democrats.
Editor's note:
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