Republicans’ views on U.S. have soured, poll finds

Republicans’ outlook on the direction of the country has soured dramatically, according to an AP-NORC poll that was conducted shortly after the Sept. 10 shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

- By THOMAS BEAUMONT AND LINLEY SANDERS

Ross D. FRANKLIN Associated Press A WELL-WISHER at a memorial to Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

The share of Republicans who see the country headed in the right direction has fallen sharply in recent months, according to the September survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Today, only about half in the GOP see the nation on the right course, down from 70% in June. The shift is even more glaring among Republican women and the party’s under-45 crowd.

Overall, about one-quarter of Americans say things in the country are headed in the right direction, down from about 40% in June. Democrats and independents didn’t shift meaningfully.

Interviews with Republicans who took the poll suggest that political violence and worries about social discord are playing a role in the shift after a summer that saw killings of figures on both sides of the political spectrum — although they also mentioned concerns including jobs, household costs and crime.

“I've spent a lot of time worrying about the worsening political discourse and, now, the disturbing assassinations,” said Chris Bahr, a 42-year-old Republican from suburban Houston.

“If you'd have talked to me two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have brought it up as a main concern but more of a gnawing feeling,” the software administrator said. “It’s something I've been thinking about. But now it’s violence, while before it was just this sense of animosity and division.”

A precipitous drop among Republicans

Views of the country’s direction tend to be fairly stable, but major events sometimes shake partisans’ feelings, even when their party is in power. Democrats, for example, were more likely to say the U.S. was headed the wrong way after the Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned Roe vs. Wade, the landmark decision that established a federal right to abortion. Democrat Joe Biden was president.