By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

A new poll has found that more than half of all Americans believe they’re worse off now than when President Obama first took office, with another two-thirds saying the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Bloomberg is reporting that the poll, which was conducted Dec. 4-7, found 51 percent of Americans saying their situation has deteriorated since President Obama took office, with only 35 percent saying they’re in better shape now.

The results reveal that Americans are growing increasingly pessimistic about the country’s future in just the last few months. This pessimism cuts across all political parties, age groups and sexes. The only group that showed any optimism were those under 35 who said they consider themselves better off now than before.

The young often show a greater “sense that things are getting better for them than we see for older respondents,” says J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co., a Des Moines, Iowa-based firm that conducted the nationwide survey. “Maybe that is the sweet naivete of youth or, more likely, they are building their careers and things are, in fact, getting better for them.”

Sixty-six percent of respondents also said they believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. That’s up from the 62 percent who felt that way in an October poll and is the worst number since the Bloomberg Natoinal Poll began polling in September, 2009.

The poll also found that the majority of Americans oppose extending the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy, and a majority (50%) say unemployment and jobs is their top concern. In second place is the budget deficit and government spending.

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