Voters are in disagreement with President Barack Obama on a number of issues, including the state of the economy and which direction the nation is headed, according to a new
Fox News poll.
The poll, which was released Thursday, found just more than half of voters (57 percent) responded that they are optimistic about the future of the country, compared with 38 percent who are pessimistic. The results represent a decline from the 66-26 percent ratio in 2012.
Asked what they thought of the president's claim that "by almost every measure" the nation's economy and American workers are better off, 58 percent said it was "mostly false," including 37 percent of Democrats. Just 36 percent agreed.
That includes 37 percent of Democrats who think it doesn't ring true.
Asked which issue was most important to them, 89 percent said the economy, followed by healthcare (82 percent) and terrorism (81 percent).
On the generic congressional ballot question – "who would you vote for if the election were held today – voters predictably said they would support the candidate from their political party However, but Independent voters were twice as likely to say they would support the Republican candidate.
The advantage is also reflected in a recent
NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, which reported that 54 percent favored the Republicans, while only 16% preferred Democrats, a lead for the GOP that hasn’t been matched in more than ten years.
Republicans also had a strong lead over Democrats on an issue which has reemerged in recent weeks – foreign policy. Asked which party was best positioned to lead the nation on foreign policy, the GOP leads 41 percent to 23 percent.
Last year, Republicans only held a 33 percent to 26 percent lead over Democrats on the issue.
Both of the media polls echo the findings of the bipartisan
George Washington University Battleground Poll released on September 3, which showed the GOP ahead on the generic congressional ballot by 4 percentage points, 46 to 42 percent.
Even worse news for Democrats, in states where there is a competitive Senate race, Republicans lead the generic ballot by 16 percentage points, 52 to 36.
"Though the American public is as divided as it has been all year, as we head into the 2014 general elections the advantage among likely voters is flowing toward Republicans," Christopher Arterton, poll director and GW professor of political management, said in a press release.
"Despite the public's antipathy toward Congress, particularly toward the Republican leadership in the House, President Obama has become a lightning rod for discontent on a number of fronts. Strong majorities disapprove of the job he’s doing on the federal budget and spending (61 percent), in foreign policy (58 percent), on working with Congress (57 percent) and on immigration (57 percent)," he added.
On individual issues, the Fox News poll found many voters were in opposition to Obama's policies.
On Obamacare, 48 percent of those responding to the Fox News pollsters said the law "went too far" and 24 percent said it was about right. A small number (21 percent) felt it did not go far enough.
The impact of Obamacare matters because the pollsters report that the voters who felt negatively about the healthcare law said they would support Republicans in November.
By a 14 percentage-point margin, those in homes with annual income less than $50,000 are more likely to say their income has gone down. Those in higher-income households say, by a 23-point margin, their income has gone up.
In states with active Senate races, likely voters would back the Republican candidate in that race by a 48-39 percent margin, t
he Fox poll finds.
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