April 3, 2008 by lonbud

Seen That Movie, Too

A CBS News-New York Times poll released Thursday showed Americans are more dissatisfied with the country’s direction than at any time since the poll began asking about the subject in the early 1990s.

In a bad omen for Senator John McCain’s fledgling presidential campaign, “a majority of nearly every demographic and political group — Democrats and Republicans, men and women, residents of cities and rural areas, college graduates and those who finished only high school — say the United States is headed in the wrong direction.”

Not surprisingly, the last time this particular poll registered such a dismal assessment by the American public, a fellow by the name of George Bush was getting ready to vacate the White House amidst an economy in dire straits.

An interesting twist to the current pulse of the nation is that dissatisfaction usually hits its low point in the months and years after an economic downturn (such as the low reading in late 1992 after the recession that began in 1990), not at the beginning of one.

Today, however, Americans report being deeply worried about the country even though many say their own personal finances are still in fairly good shape.

Two out of three current poll respondents believe the country is already in recession, though government economic data have yet to confirm their opinion.