Poll: 58% optimistic on economy

Two-thirds of Americans are optimistic that they will be better off financially next year than they are now, according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll Tuesday — news that could bode well for President Barack Obama’s reelection effort.

More than 7 in 10 Americans, 71 percent, say the current economic conditions are poor, but 58 percent say they believe the economy will be good in 2013, while two-thirds predicted that their personal finances will be better by next year.


The survey also found that regardless of the presidential candidate they back, the majority of Americans, 56 percent, think Obama will win a second term in the White House, while 36 percent think his Republican challenger Mitt Romney will be victorious. The poll points out that this is a bigger lead for Obama than the 11 percentage point advantage what he enjoyed four years ago against Sen. John McCain.

Still, the public seems to have greater confidence in Romney’s ability to turn around the economy than Obama’s – 55 percent said the economy would improve in the next four years under a President Romney, versus the 46 percent who said the same for if Obama won a second term.

And while 27 percent said the economy would make a turn for the worse with Romney leading the country, a larger 37 percent of Americans said this of if Obama is reelected.

This article tagged under: Economy

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