Tracking Public Opinion on the State of U.S. Affairs
Morning Consult surveys more than 3,000 U.S. adults daily on their views regarding the current state and trajectory of the country, providing an unparalleled gauge of public sentiment.
Key Takeaways
Americans' optimism about the trajectory of the United States has improved slightly since Donald Trump's November victory in the 2024 presidential election. But ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration, most people continue to believe that the country is on the wrong track.
Since Election Day, the share of Republicans who see the country heading in the right direction has increased from 13% to 38%, while the share of Democrats who say the same has fallen from 55% to 33%.
These partisan shifts mirror movement that we saw during the past two presidential transitions, when Americans who supported the winning candidate in each election were increasingly optimistic, and those who supported the loser grew more pessimistic.
The youngest adult generations — Gen Zers and millennials — have also become slightly more likely to say the country is headed in the right direction since Trump's victory.
Data Downloads
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Perceptions of the State of Affairs in America: A Demographic Breakdown
Source of This Data
Methodology
Every day, Morning Consult surveys a representative sample of 4,865 U.S. adults on average and asks the question, “Now, generally speaking, would you say that things in the country are going in the right direction, or have they pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track?” Results are weighted to account for a range of demographic characteristics including age, gender and race/ethnicity, and have a margin of error of up to +/-4 percentage points.
About Morning Consult
Morning Consult is a global decision intelligence company changing how modern leaders make smarter, faster, better decisions. The company pairs its proprietary high-frequency data with applied artificial intelligence to better inform decisions on what people think and how they will act. Learn more at morningconsult.com.
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Cameron Easley is Morning Consult’s head of U.S. Political Analysis. He has led Morning Consult's coverage of U.S. politics and elections since 2016, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Politico, Axios, FiveThirtyEight and on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. Cameron joined Morning Consult from Roll Call, where he was managing editor. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Follow him on Twitter @cameron_easley. Interested in connecting with Cameron to discuss his analysis or for a media engagement or speaking opportunity? Email [email protected].
