Two-Thirds Rate State of the Country as Poor but Seniors Most Positive

Jan. 27, 2006 – Less than a third (32%) of U.S. adults believe the state of the country is "good," while 68 percent believe it is "poor." But, this Harris Poll proceeding the President's State of the Union address, shows once again, that senior citizens are not as negative about most things as are younger adults. On almost all issues dealing with military conflict, the economy and social actions the seniors are the most positive. Exceptions are, interestingly, the government's efforts to rebuild after Katrina and the efforts to make taxes more fair, where boomers and seniors are the most negative.

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Men are more likely to have a favorable perspective, with 39 percent of men believing the current state of the country is good, compared to only 27 percent of women.

These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 1,518 U.S. adults surveyed online between January 12 and 17, 2006 by Harris Interactive. Not all of the questions were broken out by age, but those tables with age-related answers are highlighted in yellow.

People’s general dissatisfaction related to a number of issues may account for the current levels of dissatisfaction with the state of the country.

Eight in ten (80%) adults believe the efforts to strengthen Social Security, make prescription drugs affordable (77%) and make taxes fairer (76%) have been poor. Majorities also feel the war in Iraq (68%), the war or terrorism (56%) and the efforts to rebuild the Gulf Coast (64%) and strengthen the economy (62%) are going poorly.

Not surprisingly, there differences according to party ID on the state of the country as well as on these issues. Over two-thirds (69%) of Republicans rate the current state of the country as good, compared to 23 percent of Independents and just nine percent of Democrats.

Over three-quarters (77%) of Republicans believe the war on terrorism is going well, and 63 percent feel the war in Iraq is going well. Compare that to only 18 percent of Democrats who think the war on terrorism is going well and seven percent who believe the war in Iraq is going well.

The parties’ opinions are closer to consensus on the strengthening of Social Security, with minorities of Republicans (29%), Democrats (9%) and Independents (9%) feeling efforts related to this issue are going well.

There is also a generational difference in how adults think things are going in the country. Matures (those aged 65 and over), and Generation Xers (those aged 28 to 39) are more likely to think the war on terrorism is going well (48% and 47%, respectively), as compared to 37 percent of Baby Boomers (those aged 40 to 58) and 36 percent of Echo Boomers (those aged 18 to 27). The younger generations are more likely to think the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast is going well [Gen Xers (34%) and Echo Boomers (36%)], compared to Matures (29%) and Baby Boomers (24%).

Issues people want the president to emphasize in his State of the Union address

The survey also asked what two issues are the most important for President Bush to emphasize in his State of the Union speech.

Half (51%) of adults think it’s most important to emphasize the strengthening of the economy, while just under a third want to hear him emphasize the war in Iraq (32%) and the war on terrorism (30%). Roughly one-quarter would like the president to emphasize making taxes fairer (27%) and the strengthening of Social Security (22%), while almost one in five would like to hear him emphasize the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast (18%) and prescription drug affordability (18%).

Surprisingly, there are no differences by Party ID on these issues, with the exception of the war on terrorism (47% of Republicans think it’s an issue that is most important to emphasize compared to 16% of Democrats). In relation to opinion by age, Echo Boomers (52%) are much more likely than Gen Xers (22%), Baby Boomers (31%) or Matures (30%) to want to hear the president emphasize the war in Iraq.

Potentially Damaging Events

The State of the Union is a chance to not only look forward, but to also reflect on the past year. Adults were asked their opinions of how damaging some of the events in 2005 were to President Bush and his administration, and more than three in five adults (63%) feel the war in Iraq was damaging.

Majorities also believe the responses to Katrina and Rita (57%) and the recent wiretapping revelations (53%) were damaging. Substantial numbers, albeit not majorities, think the indictment of Congressman Tom DeLay (42%), the indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby (40%) and the investigation of Karl Rove (40%) were all damaging. Interestingly, Baby Boomers are more likely than other generations in every instance to believe that these items are damaging to the president and his administration.

State of the Union Viewership

Finally, the White House may have to promote the State of the Union address as only one-third (33%) of adults say they will watch this year. Slightly more than one-third (37%) say they may watch, while 30 percent say they won’t. Even among Republicans, less than half (47%) say they are going to watch.

TABLE 1

CURRENT STATE OF THE UNION

"At the end of the month, President Bush will give his State of the Union to the American people. How would you rate the current state of the country?"

Base: All adults

		Gender		Party ID
	Total	Men	Women	Republican	Democrat	Independent
	n=1,518	n=657	n=861	n=519	n=474	n=411
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Good (NET)	32	39	27	69	9	23
Excellent	5	8	2	11	2	3
Good	28	31	24	58	7	20
Poor (NET)	68	61	73	31	91	77
Fair	39	35	42	27	44	45
Poor	29	26	31	4	47	31

TABLE 2

HOW WELL THINGS ARE GOING IN THE COUNTRY

"How would you rate how well the following items are going in the country?"

Base: All adults

		Excellent	Pretty Good	Only Fair	Poor	Not Sure	Excellent/ Pretty Good (NET)	Only fair/ Poor (NET)
The war on terrorism	%	11	30	29	27	2	41	56
Strengthening the economy	%	9	27	33	29	2	35	62
The war in Iraq	%	6	24	25	43	2	30	68
Rebuilding the Gulf Coast	%	4	25	34	30	7	29	64
Making taxes fairer	%	3	17	31	46	4	20	76
Making prescription drugs affordable	%	2	16	33	44	5	18	77
Strengthening Social Security	%	1	13	30	50	5	15	80

Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 3

HOW WELL THINGS ARE GOING IN THE COUNTRY

"How would you rate how well the following items are going in the country?"

Percent saying Excellent/Pretty Good

Base: All adults

		Gender		Party ID			Generation
	Total	Male	Female	Republican	Democrat	Independent	Echo Boomers (18-27)	Gen X (28-39)	Baby Boomers (40-58)	Matures (65+)
	n=1,518	n=657	n=861	n=519	n=474	n=411	n=148	n=216	n=605	n=549
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
The war on terrorism	41	48	36	77	18	34	36	47	37	48
Strengthening the economy	35	44	28	67	13	31	28	34	33	45
The war in Iraq	30	40	22	63	7	24	20	34	27	37
Rebuilding the Gulf Coast	29	32	26	49	16	24	36	34	24	29
Making taxes fairer	20	24	17	41	9	13	25	27	16	19
Making prescription drugs affordable	18	21	16	33	12	12	18	21	13	24
Strengthening Social Security	15	16	14	29	9	9	17	14	12	19

Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 4

MOST IMPORTANT ITEMS FOR PRESIDENT TO EMPHASIZE IN STATE OF THE UNION

"Which two do you think are the most important for President Bush to emphasize in the State of the Union address?"

Base: All adults

		Party ID			Generation
	Total	Republican	Democrat	Independent	Echo Boomers (18-27)	Gen X (28-39)	Baby Boomers (40-58)	Matures (65+)
	n=1,518	n=519	n=474	n=411	n=148	n=216	n=605	n=549
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Strengthening the economy	51	53	48	52	52	55	51	45
The war in Iraq	32	31	37	30	52	22	31	30
The war on terrorism	30	47	16	28	23	34	27	36
Making taxes fairer	27	24	26	29	19	27	28	27
Strengthening Social Security	22	17	24	23	17	18	21	28
Rebuilding the Gulf Coast	18	14	22	17	26	21	18	12
Making prescription drugs affordable	18	12	24	17	6	17	21	19

Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 5

DAMAGING EVENTS FOR THE PRESIDENT AND HIS ADMINSTRATION

"How damaging do you think each of these issues were to the president and his administration in 2005?"

Base: All adults

		Very Damaging	Damaging	Somewhat Damaging	Not at all Damaging	Not Familiar with this issue	Very Damaging/ Damaging (NET)	Somewhat/ Not at all damaging (NET)
The war in Iraq	%	37	26	25	11	2	63	35
The responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita	%	34	23	28	13	2	57	41
The recent revelation that the president authorized the National Security Agency to bypass courts to eavesdrop on US citizens	%	30	23	25	19	4	53	43
The indictment of Congressman Tom Delay	%	19	22	29	17	12	42	47
The leaks of Valerie Plame’s name and the indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby	%	17	24	26	16	17	40	42
The investigation into Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove	%	14	26	31	14	16	40	44

TABLE 6

DAMAGING EVENTS FOR THE PRESIDENT AND HIS ADMINSTRATION

"How damaging do you think each of these issues were to the president and his administration in 2005?"

Percent saying Very Damaging or Damaging

Base: All adults

		Generation
	Total	Echo Boomers (18-27)	Gen Xers (28-39)	Baby Boomers (40-58)	Matures (65+)
	n=1,518	n=148	n=216	n=605	n=549
	%	%	%	%	%
The war in Iraq	63	69	62	66	57
The responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita	57	61	57	60	50
The recent revelation that the president authorized the National Security Agency to bypass courts to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens	53	58	52	57	44
The indictment of Congressman Tom Delay	42	33	33	47	43
The leaks of Valerie Plame’s name and the indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby	40	39	33	45	40
The investigation into Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove	40	39	31	42	44

TABLE 7

STATE OF THE UNION VIEWERSHIP

"Will you be watching the State of the Union address this year?"

Base: All adults

		Party ID
	Total	Republican	Democrat	Independent
	n=1,518	n=519	n=474	n=411
	%	%	%	%
Yes	33	47	24	31
Maybe	37	37	38	36
No	30	16	38	32

Methodology

The Harris Poll® was conducted online within the United States between January 12 and 17, 2006 among 1,518 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results have a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Sampling error for the various sub-samples listed in the tables above is higher and varies. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order, and weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This online sample was not a probability sample.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

About Harris Interactive(R)

Harris Interactive Inc. (http://www.harrisinteractive.com/), based in Rochester, New York, is the 13th largest and the fastest-growing market research firm in the world, most widely known for The Harris Poll(R) and for its pioneering leadership in the online market research industry. Long recognized by its clients for delivering insights that enable confident business decisions, the Company blends the science of innovative research with the art of strategic consulting to deliver knowledge that leads to measurable and enduring value.

Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe (http://www.harrisinteractive.com/europe) and Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiary Novatris in Paris, France (http://www.novatris.com/), and through an independent global network of affiliate market research companies. EOE M/F/D/V

To become a member of the Harris Poll Online(SM) and be invited to participate in future online surveys, go to http://www.harrispollonline.com/.

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