Poll: Americans split on whether US economically divided

In all, the new Pew poll found that 45 percent of Americans see a have/have-not division, while 52 percent disagree. The number finding the country divided fell early in Obama’s presidency, but has now risen back to basically the same level as late in the George W. Bush administration. 

Independents, in particular, are much more likely to see class division than they were in 2009, rising from 32 percent then to 47 percent now.

At 45 percent to 32 percent, more Americans believe that Obama, instead of Republicans, treats haves and have-nots the same.

The president also was seen as nearly twice as likely to help the have-nots (29 percent) as the haves (15 percent). And even with all the class warfare talk, the percentage seeing the president as tipping the scale toward the better-off has risen in recent years, from a 2009 level of 8 percent.

Almost half of the public, meanwhile, sees the GOP as more on the side of the haves, with just 7 percent viewing them as more helpful to the have-nots.