Poll: Americans Optimistic About Future

CBS News Survey Finds Americans - Including Some McCain Voters - Pleased With Election, Optimistic About Next Four Years

(CBS)  Sixty-three percent of Americans - including roughly one in five voters who supported John McCain - are pleased that Barack Obama has been elected President of the United States, a new CBS News poll finds. Only about one in four are disappointed in the outcome of the election.

And despite the many challenges facing the incoming Obama administration, chief among them a major economic downturn, 71 percent of Americans - including nearly half of McCain voters - are optimistic about the next four years. Just 17 percent are pessimistic.

Americans' reaction to President-elect Obama's victory is by no means unprecedented: About seven in 10 Americans were optimistic about Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton before their first terms began. Six in 10 were optimistic about George W. Bush in December of 2000.

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Read The Complete Poll

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Most Americans believe that Mr. Obama will make the right decisions when it comes to the economy, which voters overwhelmingly cited as their top concern. Seventy-eight percent are at least somewhat confident the president-elect will make the right decisions, and 41 percent have a lot of confidence he will do so.

Meanwhile, 70 percent are at least somewhat confident Mr. Obama will make the right decisions on Iraq, and 42 percent have a lot of confidence in the president-elect on the issue. About one in four have little or no confidence in Mr. Obama when it comes to Iraq.

But while nearly seven in ten Americans believe President-elect Obama has made his goals clear, there is widespread skepticism that he will be able to achieve all of them. Just one in five voters believe Mr. Obama will accomplish all his campaign goals, while 48 percent believe he will not. About one in four respondents volunteered that Mr. Obama will achieve some of his goals, but not all of them.

Nearly seven in ten Americans believe an Obama presidency will bring Americans together, including nearly half of Republicans. Fifteen percent believe an Obama presidency will divide Americans. In December 2000, only 46 percent thought President George W. Bush, who campaigned as "a uniter, not a divider," would bring Americans closer together.

Seventy-eight percent believe "a lot of progress" has been made in getting rid of racial discrimination in the past ten or fifteen years. Mr. Obama's election may not have had much to do with that perception, however: Last July, nearly the same percentage said a lot of progress had been made.

Blacks and whites are divided on the progress question. Less than half of blacks believe a lot of progress has been made in ending racial discrimination, while 45 percent say there has not been much progress. Just 11 percent of whites say there has not been much progress.

Americans have taken advantage of the efforts by many states to expand their absentee and early voting programs, and 29 percent of voters report casting their ballots before Election Day this year.

While 63 percent of early voters say there was at least some wait when they went to vote, a smaller percentage of Election Day voters - 44 percent - reported a wait.

More than a quarter of early voters say they had to wait in line for at least a half hour to vote, while 15 percent of Election Day voters had to wait that long. Ten percent of early voters and five percent of Election Day voters waited more than an hour to vote.

Blacks report waiting in line longer than whites.

The Obama campaign appears to have outdone the McCain campaign in contacting voters and encouraging them to go to the polls. While just five percent of voters say they were contacted only by the McCain campaign, 14 percent were only contacted by the Obama campaign. An additional 14 percent were contacted by both campaigns, while 65 percent were not contacted by either campaign.

Among new voters, 40 percent say they were contacted only by the Obama campaign, while none said they were contacted exclusively by the McCain camp.

Twenty-three percent of those who didn't vote in last week's election said they did not do so because they are not registered to vote. Fifteen percent said they simply didn't want to vote, while 9 percent said they didn't have time and 5 percent cited issues at their polling place. Other reasons offered include illness and not being a U.S. citizen.

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This poll was conducted among a nationwide random sample of 1,220 adults interviewed by telephone November 7-10, 2008. Respondents had been first interviewed October 30-November 3, 2008. Phone numbers were dialed from RDD samples of both standard land-lines and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the total sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.

[a_nother2002]

Mr Nobama should not salute, he has never served in any armed forces, he should just bow his head, disrespectful...whats next


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Posted by beauin at 01:40 PM : Nov 12, 2008

And Bush went AWOL so he should not salute either. Its funny, he ran away rather than fight when he was in ''service'' but he is happy to send others to die in a fruitless and illeagel war.
your comment is pointless. Go thin k about waht you are saying or keep quiet mate.

[homespunlady]

Posted by FreeFla at 05:52 PM : Nov 12, 2008

Good ideas except for those of us with very limited incomes and some savings that we can put toward "alternatives".

I sold my large house and downsized a couple years back. threw a LOT into making my current home energy efficient. IF I had a HUGE income I might have seen those much played up "tax breaks".

Instead I received NOTHING in "tax rebates" for those "investments" while some millionaire could have gotten a couple of thousand. Seems a bit LOPSIDED toward the Wealthy really.

So, lesson learned and when Alternative Energy INCENTIVES are FAIRLY distributed I''ll take another look at them.

Until then my BEST solution is to NOT BUY THE BULL (or anything else for that matter).

Living cheaply is now my BEST REVENGE.

[skiluuver]

FromTexwLove is actually a Hillary Clinton lover, she''s on permanent menopause because Hillary lost and the guy that beat her won.........you know how THEY can be........

[popstom12]

ask GM why they crushed the EV1

[freefla]

You asked for suggestions to improve the economy:
1. Give a full and complete tax deduction for anyone who purchases the Chevy Volt beginning today. Let that car solve GMs crisis.
2. Give a full and complete tax deduction for anyone who installs solar panels on their roof beginning today. Let that industry soar.
3. Let congress get off their :::: and start working.

[freefla]

We are on the verge of the greatest depression we have ever seen and you think people are optimistic? Did you poll a mental ward?

[popstom12]

The bailout cost is going to be 3.5 trillion and you think taxes will not go up obamanation you have been fooled again

[bracemic]

Gallup, which does polling profesiionally, shows an 83% dissatisfaction rating with the state of the nation. Consumer confidence is 74% negative. What''s more is that Bush''s approval rating is going up while Obama''s is already starting to slip. The transfer of blame has already begun.

[bracemic]

Optomistic about what? Our country will look like Canada before long... socialist and poor.

[beauin]

I am optimistic about moving to Canada! economy is great, property is a good value, and they don''t have Obama. PS- Mr Nobama should not salute, he has never served in any armed forces, he should just bow his head, disrespectful...whats next

[taxed2death]

hello

[taxed2death]

I saw the 71% optimism poll result. CBS, you need to look around or change your poll lists b/c middle America is not that optimistic. Stop telling us what to think. A poll on AOL suggests a totally different percentage; try 46% and there are others that are not showing the glowing "think democrat" percentages!

[louiville2]

Hmmmmm kind of fits in with this:

"In "How the Coming Obama Landslide Will Trump The Bradley Effect," the Huffington Post''s Steve Kettmann pontificated about a massive win for the Democrat (Oct. 10). "If Obama can really pull off a landslide, we the American people will have spoken loud and clear that it is time to come together" and "turn away from the politics of division and resentment" that liberals love to wax lyrical about. "An Obama landslide? You betcha."


Fake polls and propaganda talking points are also inseparable allies, and tend to dishearten voters. Looking back, over some of those final pro-Obama polls, one can now demonstrate that they are as scientific as Al Gore''s last polar bear studies.


The New York Times and Newsweek, of course, win silver and gold for the most inaccurate numbers. CBS/Times, for example, forecast an 11-point Obama win, 52-41, whilst the leftwing Newsweek prophesized a 12-point victory for The One, 53-41. As Ann Coulter points out in "Eighty-Four Percent Say They''d Never Lie To A Pollster" (Oct. 15, 2008), calm heads need to (a) see polls in their historical context and (b) see polls in their current political context (but hide your money under the bed, just in case). "

[ocasanas]

I am by nature a very optimistic person, but sincerely, right now I don''t see any optimism any time soon. Much money has been lost and all this money has to be regained before optimism comes back.

[vejadu2]

No chance - this poll certainly didn''t reach the folks I work with, attend church with or attend school with my kids. Based on his promises and actions to date, I anticipate he''ll be the worst president since Carter and maybe since Harding!

[barbaram99]

I did not fall for the bush lie. I am 54. Ye don''t ''member 73 where people stood in long lines at the pump and that mess just to fill up the tank. I was a high school student. There were students had their own cars. The seniors were allowed to drive and park at school years ago. As a class we talked about oil. One kid piped up If we ever go to war in middle east it will over oil. That is just what America did. Adults back then said thw same. There were fewer cars on the roads years ago. I have more faith in Sen. Obama as President than I ever did bush. I can''t wait for the troops to come home.Bush should haved resided years ago. I was 19 in Aug 74 when Nixon stepped dowm as it was on live TV. I vote. I AM THRILLED WE HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT. He will do his best.

[solarrays247-2009]

This is exactly my point about Afghanistan. Why the rush to duplicate Iraq?
Posted by ActionNow1


Rush??? Did you say that we are RUSHING into something???

I hope this doesnt come as a surprise to you, but we have been pursuing Bin Laden and AlQaeda in Afghanistan with very little resources for 7 years. Seven years doesnt seem as if we are rushing into anything. How much longer do you think we should wait before we refocus on full attention and resources on capturing or killing Bin Laden and defeating Alqaeda in Afghanistan?????

Posted by chitown4716 at 11:48 AM : Nov 12, 2008

This deserves a bump! Thank you, chitown4716! Unbelievable that some still believe that Iraq was the quilty party in the attack on the Twin Towers!

[solarrays247-2009]

Sorry Irmcvet97,
I am an Iraq combat vet, and we the troops are certainly keeeping each other alive and doing things as nobally as we can, but the whole war is based on a lie. Your only problem is that you fell for it and can''''t admit it.

Posted by Vet_SK at 11:29 AM : Nov 12, 2008

With all due respect, Sir, and my thanks to you, and all our military for serving so nobly all over this planet....we owe you so much!!

However, if you are at all familiar with the Vietnam War era, if you actually were old enough to have lived through that time, then you might not question the honesty and integrity with which Irmcvet97 writes. I believe him, and I for one, shudder to think history is again repeating itself.
Take care.

[chitown4716]

This is exactly my point about Afghanistan. Why the rush to duplicate Iraq?


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Posted by ActionNow1

Rush??? Did you say that we are RUSHING into something???

I hope this doesnt come as a surprise to you, but we have been pursuing Bin Laden and AlQaeda in Afghanistan with very little resources for 7 years. Seven years doesnt seem as if we are rushing into anything. How much longer do you think we should wait before we refocus on full attention and resources on capturing or killing Bin Laden and defeating Alqaeda in Afghanistan?????

[specialty8]

cntrymuzksuk,
That is what we all are planing,as soon as Oprah is over and and the Obama bucks start to roll in we will get that happy meal.