A version of this story appears in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.
The Make America Great Again movement isn’t so sure that’s possible anymore.
That’s according to a new CNN poll of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents conducted by SSRS. While the poll is most focused on the political landscape ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the number that stands out most is the one that suggests a deep pessimism about what’s to come.
This is from CNN’s Jennifer Agiesta and Ariel Edwards-Levy:
Just 30% of all Republicans and Republican-leaners say the country’s best days are still ahead of it – a dramatic shift from 2019, when Trump held the White House and 77% were optimistic that the best was ahead, and lower even than the 43% who said the same in the summer of 2016, prior to Trump’s election.
It’s natural that Republicans and Republican-leaning independents would have a dimmer view during a Democratic administration, but the decline from the end of the Obama administration is noteworthy.
Toward the end of the Trump administration, strong majorities on both sides of the political aisle (67% of those who lean toward Democrats and 77% of those who lean toward Republicans) said the country’s best days were ahead.
That less than a third of those who lean toward the GOP say the same thing today suggests a dramatic mood shift.
Note: When we refer to poll respondents in this story, we’re referring both to Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.
There have been warnings about a general national depression before. Then-President Jimmy Carter addressed the nation in July 1979 – 10 days after scuttling a previously planned speech about the energy crisis and subsequently trying to speak to a cross section of Americans – and…
Read the full article here