Poll: Majority sees U.S. on wrong track - a first during the presidency of Barack Obama
Asked in a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll if things in the U.S. are generally headed in the right direction or are off on the wrong track, 52% said they were off on the wrong track. Thirty-six percent said they were headed in the right direction.
At the same time, Republicans haven’t been able to profit politically from the gloom many Americans have about the economy.
Democrats hold a clear edge over Republicans when it comes to which party Americans want to control Congress after next year’s mid-term elections. Forty-six percent of respondents said Democrats, while 38% said Republicans. In September, the Democrats’ edge was 43% to 40%.
On health-care, Obama’s top domestic priority, 42% said it was a bad idea compared to 38% who said it was a good idea. But a government-run insurance plan option got 48% support compared to 42% opposition. Obama favors such a plan to compete with private insurers, and bills from the House and Senate both contain the so-called “public option.”