Economic poll finds little cheer for Democrats

“The new data contains nothing but bad news for the Democrats as we approach the November 2nd election,” the poll states. 

Obama’s rating on the economy is now 73 percent negative, compared to 71 percent in September and 68 percent in August. Fifty-one percent of Democrats polled agree with this sentiment. 

Only 30 percent of the public expects that the economy will improve next year, and less than one-quarter of respondents (22 percent) believe their own household’s finances will improve in six months. 

In addition, few people accept the official view that, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the recession ended in June 2009. 

“Indeed, only 6 percent of all adults believe that the recession is over,” the poll states. “A slender majority (54 percent) believes that the ‘recovery has started but the recession is not over’ and 33 percent believe that the ‘recovery has not started.’ ” 

The poll concludes that the “results show that the public is as pessimistic, or more pessimistic, than ever about the economy, strengthening the belief that the Democrats will suffer very badly in the elections.” 

The survey tapped the opinions of 3,084 adults living in the U.S. between Oct. 11-18. Information on the poll can be found at www.harrisinteractive.com.