Washington (CNN) - A new national survey indicates that the number of Americans who say things are going badly in the country is on the rise, as a growing number of people believe that economic conditions are getting worse.
The number of Americans who said that things were going well had been slowly but steadily rising since last fall, but numbers from a CNN/ORC International poll released Friday reverse that trend, with optimism about how things are going in the country now at 36% down seven points from April. And 63% say things are going poorly, up six points from April.
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According to the survey, the number of people who say that the economy is starting to recover has also dropped five points since April, from 24% to 19%, while the number who say that the economy is still in a downturn is up six points to 39%.
"That all seems bad news for President Barack Obama's re-election chances, but only if Mitt Romney can capitalize on it," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
The CNN poll was conducted by ORC International Tuesday and Wednesday (August 7-8), with 1,010 adults nationwide questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.
– CNN Political Editor Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
From CNN Politics
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Throw Obama the economy destroyer out of office then. Duh!
Fortunately,for the more enlightened there are several factors other than poll numbers for voters to decide whom to vote for. Poll numbers vacillate up and down, but the men running are who they are and remain the same. Oh, wait a minute, sorry, that's certainly not true in the case of Mr. Romney! He's whomever his GOP puppet masters want him to be!
You know why optimism is dropping? Because nobody puts forward a clear economic plan. The Congress seems content to just let us continue to roll off the fiscal cliff and there's not a darn thing we the people can do about it. We are caught up in mindless debates about mindless things. Everybody is afraid of offending someone so they say and do nothing.
If only Romney offered a choice. His whole campaign is "The economy's bad. I'm rich. You can be too". No ideas. No plans. No vision. "Things are bad. They wouldn't be as bad under me. I'm a businessman".
What? You mean those free trade agreements that shipped our manufacturing base and all its jobs overseas so that corporate America could exploit cheap/forced/child labor is hurting America's working class? Who'd a thunk it! The minimum wage jobs left here stateside not paying the bills? Your just lazy then or so the argument goes. Corporate America and our wealthy are prospering but notice the only thing "trickling down" to you has a foul odor? Surprise! Not wealthy but not yet part of the 60% now living near the poverty level? Don't worry, as the economy continues it's death spiral you soon will be. When the reality of our situation becomes unacceptable or contrary to your beliefs/opinions just watch Faux news and live in a fantasy world of make believe. Birth certificates anyone?
For many people the lowering of expectations is due to the fear that, at worst, Romney will get elected which means the economy as it relates to middle and lower class Americans will be a disaster even worse than Bush left it. But secondarily they see that, even if Obama wins, the Republicans will continue to do whatever it takes, including destroying the economy and the lives of most Americans, to work towards winning the next election. Due to the fact that outsourcing has not only taken jobs overseas but created the beginnings of vast markets overseas, corporate American simply does not need the vast majority of Americans to make a decent wage. This will become a second rate country with only low wage earners and ultra rich CEOs like Romney.
Well of course it's going to drop with Republicans doing everything in their power to get people to feel negative about the economy. The last thing they want is for people to feel good about the economy even though higher consumer confidence would translate into more spending, which would create more demand, which would give businesses a reason to hire more people. Gee, why would Republicans want that if it's going hurt their chances for being elected?
I don't think that the economy is recovering well but if Congress continues to block every effort I blame them and voting for Romney is still out of the question. When you asked pointed questions in your polls you can direct the result and you did.
Vote for Gary Johnson for your freedom!
There are 3.2 million jobs out there ready to be filled that Americans simply don't have the capacity or expertise for. The TGOP & Mitt want to keep dumbing down America by further education cuts.
People will be optimistic once Mitt Romney wins in November.... We need a president that knows how to make money and lead a nation.....and who is successful in business. Obama is a complete rookie and it has shown the last 4 years unfortunately....
Optimism about the economy waning, oh oh the drugs have worn off...bad for Obama. Mitt saving the american working people by exporting jobs to slave labor china for corporate top 1A% profit, you'll need more drugs to believe the new fantasy.
Yes, the economy is getting worse. We are facing tougher times before. I wonder how many more jobs will be lost. Our President, Senate, and House of Representatives have let us down.
It will be interesting to read the gibberish that it is the fault of one party or the other. Wake up people they all are to blame.
Optimism on the economy drops after four years of Obama. No kidding! DUH!
I love men and cant wait to watch the debate. They are bothe cute
Despite the constant efforts to put lipstick on the pig, people realize we are in a 4 year spiral. What 1/2 won't admit is downsizing America has been obama's plan all along. Read his books and if you can still vote for him afterwards, you deserve the poverty you will have
People are intellectually lazy. 30second political ads seem to be the depth of their research in all things political. Therefore parroting partisan propaganda is the result. Manufactured realism is the world we now see, of course supporting the old adage that if you say something is true long enough that it becomes true.... Even though the exact opposite is true.
With the stock market strugling, real state frozen and unemployment sky high, its a miracle our system still prevails. Us boomers are on hold.
There never was optimism, only wishful thinking.
More fodder for the gamesmanship that is American politics. A man who epitomizes the greed and ruthless devotion to making money can get some leverage from the pessimism that pervades this country if he can "capitalize" on it. The guy who largely inherited the mess is to blame because in three or so years he can't turn around what has been decades in the making, and which was never his to singlehandedly turn around in the first place.
It sure would be nice if the corporate media would stop whining about Obama, its not his fault. No matter how hard you try and sway people to vote for the repukeagains, Obama is going to win by a land slide.
Another reason to vote Obama out in 2012 !
Just the kind of news the domestic terrorist GOP loves to hear.
Take all the polls you want. The fact is that if people (and I'm not talking about the far-left and the far-right, nothing is going to change their minds) have a negative outlook when they're in the voting booth, they're going to vote for a change.
Romney 2012 – Change For The Better
Democraps, its going to get worse til we get that lying cheat out of the whitehouse, what an inept wimp he turned out to be