Fox News Poll: Dissatisfaction with direction of country remains high

The latest Fox News poll shows that 59 percent of American voters are dissatisfied with how things are going in the country, while 40 percent are satisfied.  That’s identical to a year ago (September 2014).

What’s behind those numbers?

The president’s party usually has a more positive outlook and that holds true today:  71 percent of Democrats are at least somewhat satisfied, while just 28 percent of independents and 16 percent of Republicans feel that way.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE POLL RESULTS

The six in 10 who are unhappy is made up of 84 percent of Republicans, 70 percent of independents and 29 percent of Democrats.

The highest level of satisfaction since President Obama took office was 46 percent, and that was just before his reelection in late October 2012.  Only 20 percent were satisfied immediately before Obama took office in January 2009.

Currently, 44 percent of voters approve of the job Obama is doing as president, while 50 percent disapprove.  Last month, it was 42-51 percent (August 2015).  Obama’s job approval hit its low of 38 percent last September.

Obama gets similar marks on his handling of the economy (45 percent approve vs. 51 percent disapprove) and health care (43 percent approve vs. 54 percent disapprove).

His ratings are lower for the job he’s doing on immigration (37 percent vs. 56 percent) and Iran (33 percent vs. 58 percent).

Pollpourri

There could be a government shutdown if Congress doesn’t reach an agreement on a new budget before the fiscal year ends September 30.  Three-quarters of voters feel even a partial shutdown is a serious problem, including 50 percent who say “very” serious.

Majorities of Democrats (88 percent), independents (70 percent) and Republicans (67 percent) agree it would be at least somewhat serious.

The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,013 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from September 20-22, 2015. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters.