Wrong Track/ Right Track

Is America on the wrong track or the right track? This is a question used in polls to determine a general sense of the public-- policy wise, social equity wise, etc. Essentially, it's a measure of whether Americans feel optimistic or pessimistic about the future.

So as I read through the New York Times/CBS News poll results that were released today, I was struck by this paragraph from the summary:

More Americans — 72 percent — now say that “generally, things in the country are seriously off on the wrong track” than at any time since the Times/CBS News poll began asking the question in 1983. The figure had been in the high 60’s earlier this year.

Wow! That's more than a reaction to a failed war and incompetent national leadership. I have my short list of additional contributing factors (income inequality, downgrading of jobs and incomes, health care costs and non-insurance, educational failures, for example). Why do you think the pulse of the nation is so bad?

Poll Shows Opposition to Iraq War at All Time High - The New York Times