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"Americans' optimism about the future for the U.S. seems to be colored by their political preferences. With Democrats now controlling the federal government, 77% of Democrats are optimistic about the United States over the next 20 years, but half of Republicans are optimistic.
This 27-percentage-point Democratic-Republican gap in optimism is much greater than what Gallup measured in the past on this question."
I'm not surprised. One of the reasons I don't like conservatism is that it seems to be based on the idea that everything was better in the past. To me, it's a backward-looking philosophy.
Everything that has them bemoaning the doldrums of their existence: TARP, terrorists who are provided lawyers, civilian trials of said terrorists, expansion of "socialism", borrowing money from China etc, was all hunky dory during the Bush years. They cheered his leadership and were optimistic about the future. Now that Obama is in charge all the policies they were fine with are now "Socialism" and "Tyranny". They deserve to be pessimistic about the future, just for being so effin dumb.
They had a thing today on the Daily Show about how ridiculously nostalgic some commentators are over how things "used" to be. Glenn Beck even pretended to cry about how great the Mean Joe Coke commercial was and how things were perfect in 1979. Everybody always remembers things during their childhood fondly. Of course before you turn 10, you don't have any responsibility so everything seems rosey.
Too vague. Over the next 20 years we have no idea who in in control.
Gallup conducts the poll every 10 years. Obviously, a lot of people are able to answer the question.
Besides, of course you have no idea who is going to be in control over the next 20 years, but are you so political that your level of optimism is decided by which political party is in charge? I would think that would be a depressing way to live.
It is clear who is in charge has great impact on what our country will be like. If the Democrats are in charge I have zero optimism. They are destroying this country at break-neck speed.
It doesn't matter what people think... its what it actually is... although I always hope for the best, I already know its going to be bad... hoping and knowing are two different things... the reason Democrats are optimistic (and they HAVE to be) is because they are in the leadership roles, it wouldn't smart of them to tell the country that they F***** it up by being pessimistic... they don't get votes that way... if the world was falling apart, everything would be "great" with democrats otherwise they would be kicked out... fast... I don't think things are going to get better until perhaps 2011-2012 (what do you know, I predicted the very same thing back in 2008)... 2010 is NOT going to be better... its going to drudge on being bad and staying bad... recovery will not begin until 2011 but the Democrats will claim "victory" for something that was going to happen anyways... I don't blame Democrats... Republicans have done the same thing in the past and would of done the same thing again... its nothing personal, its just politics... that's the politicians motto... Its amazing that people are so blind to ideology that they don't know that Democrats = Republicans when it comes to dirty game of lying...
Well, of course. The people in power always feel more optimistic about the future than the people out of power.
Actually, that's only a recent development. As the article says, back in the 1970s when we were less divided as a nation, party affiliation didn't have much affect at all on how optimistic people were. It's unfortunate that we've become so divided.
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