ABC News-Washington Post Poll Reveals Rising "Dissatisfaction" With Federal Government

According to a recently released ABC News-Washington Post poll, a full 92% of Americans believe that the economy is in "bad shape".

An even more worrying number - just 24% of those surveyed said they believe that the economy is improving.

The growing concern over the state of the economy is looking to have a monumental impact on the upcoming midterm elections.

According to the poll, "likely voters now favor the Republican over the Democratic candidate in their congressional district by 53-40 percent", which is the "widest GOP margin on record in ABC News/Washington Post polls since 1981".

President Obama and the Democrats were desperately hoping to see an uptick in the economy leading up to the midterm elections in November. However, the "summer of recovery" never took hold - in fact, the country seems to be going in the exact opposite direction. A recent decline in GDP growth, combined with a continued high national unemployment rate, has many people entertaining the possibility of a "double dip recession" coming to the United States.

Many issues matter to the average American, but the economy is always at or near the top of the list. It's tough to be concerned with anything else when you are out of work.

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According to the ABC/Washington Post poll, 33% of those surveyed said they believed that President Obama's economic program has made the economy worse (compared to 30% who said they believe that his program has made the economy better).

Discontent over the state of the economy is hitting Obama's approval numbers, as a full 52% of those surveyed said that they "disapprove" of the way that President Obama is handling his job overall. 57% also said they would give President Obama a thumbs down on his handling of the economy.

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There is not much optimism in the country right now, and for good reason. Many people are either out of work or worried about their jobs - this has translated into increased savings and decreased consumer expenditures as Joe and Jane Average continue to fret about the economy. Who can blame them?

Source: ABCnews.go.com - Poll: Revolt Against Status Quo Gives Republicans Record Lead in 2010 Midterms

Filed under: The Economic Meltdown