Direction of the Country (February 2015)
| category | column-1 |
|---|---|
| Right direction | 26% |
| Wrong track | 59% |
| Don't know | 15% |
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Respondents were asked, "Thinking about the country, do you think that things are headed in the right direction, or do you think that things are headed off on the wrong track?" Measurement of Party ID for this figure is based on two questions. First, respondents were asked whether they consider themselves to be a Democrats, Republicans, independents, other, or not sure. Those who responded that they are independents or "other" were then asked if they lean toward either the Democrats or Republicans. If they indicated that they lean toward one party or the other, they are considered Democrats or Republicans for the purposes of this figure. Only "pure" independents or members of a third party who indicate that they have no preference for Democrats vis-a-vis Republicans are considered independents . Respondents who answered that they are "not sure" for either of the two aforementioned questions are not incorporated into this figure.
| category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 52% | 18% | 8% |
| Wrong track | 31% | 55% | 84% |
| Don't know | 18% | 28% | 8% |
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Respondents were asked, "Thinking about the country, do you think that things are headed in the right direction, or do you think that things are headed off on the wrong track?" Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
| category | Lean Republican | Not very strong Republican | Strong Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 8% | 9% | 7% |
| Wrong track | 86% | 77% | 86% |
| Don't know | 6% | 13% | 8% |
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Respondents were asked, "Thinking about the country, do you think that things are headed in the right direction, or do you think that things are headed off on the wrong track?" Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
| category | Lean Democrat | Not very strong Democrat | Strong Democrat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 54% | 35% | 61% |
| Wrong track | 32% | 41% | 24% |
| Don't know | 14% | 24% | 15% |
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Respondents were asked, "Thinking about the country, do you think that things are headed in the right direction, or do you think that things are headed off on the wrong track?" Ideology is measured on a scale of 1-7, with 1 corresponding to "extremely liberal", 7 corresponding to "extremely conservative, and 4 corresponding to "in the middle." For the purposes of this table, respondents who placed themselves at or between points 1 and 3 on the scale are considered "liberal," respondents who placed themselves at point 4 on the scale are considered "moderate," and respondents who placed themselves at or between points 5 and 7 on the scale are considered conservative.
| category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 50% | 31% | 13% |
| Wrong track | 33% | 45% | 80% |
| Don't know | 17% | 24% | 8% |
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Respondents were asked, "Thinking about the country, do you think that things are headed in the right direction, or do you think that things are headed off on the wrong track?" The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative.
| category | Leaning conservative | Somewhat conservative | Extremely conservative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 11% | 15% | 12% |
| Wrong track | 80% | 78% | 82% |
| Don't know | 9% | 7% | 7% |
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Respondents were asked, "Thinking about the country, do you think that things are headed in the right direction, or do you think that things are headed off on the wrong track?" The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative.
| category | Leaning liberal | Somewhat liberal | Extremely liberal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 48% | 54% | 47% |
| Wrong track | 31% | 31% | 38% |
| Don't know | 21% | 15% | 15% |
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Respondents were asked, "Thinking about the country, do you think that things are headed in the right direction, or do you think that things are headed off on the wrong track?" Tea Party identification is based on the following question, also asked in the survey: "Suppose the Tea Party movement organized itself as a political party. When thinking about the next election for Congress, would you vote for the Republican candidate from your district, the Democratic candidate from your district, or the Tea Party candidate from your district?" Those who responded "Republican candidate" are considered Republicans (non-Tea Party movement) and those who responded "Tea Party candidate" are considered Tea Party Republicans.
| category | Democrat | Republican | Tea Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 54% | 13% | 4% |
| Wrong track | 28% | 77% | 93% |
| Don't know | 18% | 11% | 4% |
| category | White | Black | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 17% | 57% | 34% |
| Wrong track | 71% | 29% | 42% |
| Don't know | 12% | 14% | 24% |
| category | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 27% | 25% |
| Wrong track | 61% | 57% |
| Don't know | 11% | 18% |
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Respondents were asked, "Thinking about the country, do you think that things are headed in the right direction, or do you think that things are headed off on the wrong track?" Community is based on the following question, " Would you say that you live in an urban, suburban, or rural community?"
| category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 37% | 26% | 11% |
| Wrong track | 49% | 59% | 74% |
| Don't know | 14% | 15% | 15% |
| category | No high school | High school graduate | Some college | 2-year | 4-year | Post-grad |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 26% | 27% | 27% | 31% | 26% | 15% |
| Wrong track | 49% | 57% | 57% | 57% | 60% | 79% |
| Don't know | 25% | 16% | 17% | 12% | 14% | 5% |
| category | 18-29 | 30-44 | 45-64 | 65+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 39% | 32% | 20% | 20% |
| Wrong track | 42% | 51% | 64% | 72% |
| Don't know | 19% | 17% | 15% | 8% |
