A new low: Just 21% say U.S. is on the right track

Prior to this past week, the number saying the country is headed in the right direction has ranged from a low of 22% to a high of 35% since President Obama’s inauguration in January 2009.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of voters now say the country is heading down the wrong track. Since January 2009, pessimism about the country’s direction has ranged from 57% to 72%.

Leading up to Obama’s inauguration, the number of voters who felt the country was heading in the right direction remained below 20%. The week of his inauguration, voter confidence rose to 27% and climbed into the low to mid-30s until mid-May of that year. Since then, belief that the country is heading in the right direction has been trending lower.