In A Bitterly Divided Country, Pessimism And Cynicism Reign Supreme: Two-Thirds Of Americans Say It Is At Least Probably True That The Government Often Deliberately Lies To The People.
That distrust cuts across partisan lines: Strong majorities of Donald Trump voters (64 percent) and Kamala Harris voters (70 percent) agree.
Nearly half of Americans, 49 percent, say that the best times of the country are behind them, according to poll. That’s greater than the 41 percent who said the best times lie ahead, underscoring a pervasive sense of unease about both individuals’ own futures and the national direction.
The exclusive new poll, conducted nearly one year after Trump’s reelection, reveals a deep strain of pessimism across the electorate — but especially for Democrats.
People who voted for Harris last year are twice as likely as Trump voters to say the United States’ best times are in the past.
America, as a country, is like “someone who is feeling lost, confused, or beat up … or uncertain of what to do, and looking around and saying this isn’t right, this isn’t the way,” said Maury Giles, the CEO of Braver Angels, a nonprofit that works to bridge partisan divides.
DEMOCRATS ARE MORE PESSIMISTIC THAN REPUBLICANS
Asked about “the best times” in the United States, only a small number of people cited the present moment. Instead, nearly two-thirds of Harris voters said the best times in America. were in the past, double the share of Trump voters who believe that. A 55 percent majority of Trump voters said the best times still lie ahead.
That’s likely at least partly a reflection of a partisan pattern of expressing optimism when one’s party is in the White House, and pessimism when it is not.
“Americans will divide on how they view the country’s doing depending on who is in office and which party they identify with,” said Jennifer McCoy, a political scientist at Georgia State University who focuses on political partisanship.
Americans’ views may flip in the future, when control of the White House and government next change — but for now, Democrats’ negative views are pervasive.
More than half of Harris voters, 51 percent, say that America is not a functioning democracy, while 52 percent of Trump voters take the opposite view and say America is a model.
The view from Democrats is so gloomy that a solid majority of Harris voters — 70 percent — say the quality of life in America is at least somewhat worse than it was five years ago, a period that was marked by the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread racial justice protests and a contentious presidential election. Meanwhile, a 42 percent plurality of Trump voters say the quality of life in America is at least somewhat better than it was five years ago.
That dynamic even extends to views of the world at large: More than three-quarters — 76 percent — of Harris voters say the state of the world is at least somewhat worse than it was five years ago, compared to 44 percent of Trump voters who agree.
MANY PEOPLE DON’T BELIEVE THE AMERICAN DREAM EXISTS
On a personal level, faith in the American Dream has also fallen. The idea — once considered a national ethos about the ability to better one’s life through hard work and discipline — was not specifically defined in the poll, which asked more generally about the statement that “the American Dream no longer exists.”
Overall, almost half — 46 percent — of Americans said that the American Dream no longer exists. That was by far the most common answer, far greater than the 26 percent who disagreed.
A slight majority of Harris voters, 51 percent, agreed that the American Dream no longer exists, while last year’s Trump voters were even split, with 38 percent agreeing and 38 percent disagreeing.
The declining belief in the American Dream, which has been mirrored in other national surveys, reflects a pessimism about today’s economy.
Hidden History -- In The Making 