Americans are more dissatisfied with the country's direction than at any time since the early 1990s, according to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll.
In the poll, 81 percent of respondents said they believed "things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track," up from 69 percent a year ago and 35 percent in early 2002.
A majority of nearly every demographic and political group – Democrats and Republicans, men and women, residents of cities and rural areas, college graduates and those who finished only high school – say the United States is headed in the wrong direction. Seventy-eight percent of respondents said the country was worse off than five years ago; just 4 percent said it was better off.
Only 21 percent of respondents said the overall economy was in good condition, the lowest such number since late 1992, when the recession that began in the summer of 1990 had already been over for more than a year. In the latest poll, two in three people said they believed the economy was in recession today.
The poll confirmed the unpopularity of President Bush. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they approved of the job he was doing, a number that has barely changed since last summer. But Democrats did not escape their share of public censure. They have controlled the House and Senate since last year and also face the risk that unhappy voters will punish Congressional incumbents.
In assessing possible responses to the mortgage crisis, Americans displayed a growing hostility towards big business and the banks in particular, favouring help for individuals but not for financial institutions. A clear majority said they did not want the government to lend a hand to banks, even if the measures would help limit the depth of a recession.
On the other hand, respondents were considerably more open to government help for home owners at risk of foreclosure. Fifty-three percent said they believed the government should help those whose interest rates were rising, while 41 percent said they opposed such a move.
The recession in the USA is now the main worry. When the presidential campaign began last year, the war in Iraq and terrorism easily topped Americans' list of concerns. Almost 30 percent of people in a December poll said that one of those issues was the country's most pressing problem. About half as many named the economy or jobs.
But the issues have switched places in just a few months. In the latest poll, 17 percent named terrorism or the war, while 37 percent named the economy or the job market.
Americans are now increasingly anxious about the future. Fewer than half of parents – 46 percent – said they expected their children to enjoy a better standard of living than they themselves do, down from 56 percent in 2005.
Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they would support raising taxes on households making more than $250,000 to pay for tax cuts or government programs for people making less than that amount. Only 38 percent called it a bad idea.
43 percent of those surveyed said they would prefer a larger government that provided more services, which is tied for the highest such number since The Times and CBS News began asking the question in 1991.
This poll indicates an important shift in the mood of the public in the USA. This is in the early stages of the recession. The support for Obama is a reflection of a general mood of discontent and a profound desire for change. But no real change can be expected from Obama and the Democrats.
A Democratic Presidency combined with unemployment, falling living standards and war will only fuel the discontent, preparing explosive developments.
Watch this space!
