American People in a Sour Mood
A Commentary by Douglas Schoen
The American people are in a sour mood. The latest Rasmussen data shows that President Bush's approval is still below 40% and only about one in five American believe the country is heading in the right direction.
Only 25% say the country is better off than it was 4 years ago while 64% say it is worse off.
Fifty percent (50%) believe that history will judge the U.S. mission in Iraq to be a failure and just 39% believe the U.S. and its allies are winning the larger War on Terror.
That being said, only 15% say that Congress is doing a good or excellent job while 83% say it is doing a fair or poor job.
Even the Supreme Court gets negative ratings. Only 39% give the High Court a positive evaluation while 60% say it is only doing a fair or poor job.
At this point the Democrats clearly have the upper hand with the voters, and enjoy leads over the Republicans on 9 of 10 issues that Rasmussen tested.
At the same time, it is important to note that with the country as negative as it is neither side really enjoys a reservoir of goodwill.
Douglas Schoen is a founding and former partner of Penn Schoen & Berland, and a Fox News Contributor.
Schoen was President Bill Clinton's research and strategic consultant during the 1996 reelection campaign.
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