From the coasts to the heartland, Americans say our country is on the wrong track

In a striking display of unity, the majority of voters from virtually every demographic currently believe the United States is “on the wrong track” under Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress, according to a recent Morning Consult/Politico poll.

The poll also showed that in just one week, support for Trump’s impeachment rose 5 percent.

Defying the common narrative of satisfaction with Trump and the GOP among rural and lower-income voters, the respondents voicing dissatisfaction with the direction in which the country is headed represented a wide array of backgrounds and identities.

Americans living in urban areas were slightly more likely than those living in rural areas to be concerned about our nation being on the wrong track, but only by the slim margin of 60 percent to 57 percent.

And the worries are not limited to the coastal, typically more liberal parts of the country, either. While 64 percent of respondents in the Northeast and 60 percent in the West voices such concerns, so too did 60 percent of those polled in the Midwest and 56 percent of those in the South.

In addition, the majority of people holding both “blue collar” and “white collar” jobs said they are dissatisfied with the track we are on; in fact, slightly more blue collar workers (60 percent) than white collar (57 percent) expressed such sentiment. So too did majorities of Americans at all educational levels, as 60 percent of respondents with post-graduate degrees, 56 percent with bachelor’s degrees, and 61 percent with no college degree agreed we are on the wrong track.

Americans at higher income levels (above $100,000) were slightly less concerned (55 percent) than those at lower levels (61 percent of those earning under $50,000), but majorities at all income levels noted supported the “wrong track” statement.

Notably, however, the poll did not separate out income levels above $100,000. Americans in the top 1 percent will surely benefit most from the tax cuts proposed by Trump and the GOP, and thus would presumably be more supportive of their policies.

Unsurprisingly, given the GOP’s anti-women policies, the percentage of concerned women was larger than that of men, at 64 percent to 54 percent. And the majority of voters of all races thought the country is on the wrong track, with 74 percent of Black Americans, 57 percent of white Americans, and 52 percent of Hispanic Americans. (Other racial and ethnic backgrounds were not separated out, though 64 percent of respondents classified as “Other” under ethnicity stated a “wrong track” belief.)

Despite the conventional wisdom, the dissatisfaction with and resistance to the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress encompasses a wide-ranging and diverse group of Americans. And as each day brings new scandals and harmful policies, that group will only grow larger and broader.