The Year Ahead: Hope Up, Worldview Down
Dec. 28, 2006 — -- Personal hopes for the new year are looking up, courtesy of sharply greater cheer among Democrats celebrating their midterm victory.
The public's broader worldview has inched south, though, weakened by dour views on Iraq and the Bush administration alike.
Nearly three-quarters of Americans are more hopeful than fearful about what 2007 has in store for them personally, the most since 2003.
Significantly fewer, 55 percent, are optimistic about the world's prospects overall in the year to come.
It's the first time in polls since 2001 that these measures have moved in different directions: Compared to last year, this ABC News/Washington Post poll finds a six-point gain in the number of Americans who express personal optimism for the year ahead, but a slight four-point drop in the number who are optimistic about the world's fortunes.
PARTISAN FACTORS -- The advance in personal optimism comes from Democrats, who last month regained the control of Congress they lost a dozen years ago. Seventy-one percent of Democrats now call themselves more hopeful than fearful about the year ahead, up a dramatic 21 points from last year.
More Republicans, 79 percent, remain optimistic; they retain the presidency, after all, and also tend to be better off financially than Democrats, a stronger factor than partisanship in personal optimism. Republicans have been more optimistic than Democrats steadily since 2003. This year, compared to last, the margin has narrowed very considerably, though.
Optimism about the world more broadly in the coming year likewise has gained sharply among Democrats, but eroded among independents and Republicans. Today 65 percent of Republicans are hopeful about the world's prospects -- down 13 points from last year, albeit still the brightest outlook. Hopefulness among independents (this year's glummest political group) is down by eight points. Among Democrats it's up by 14.
ISSUES -- Optimism has advanced in the last year in specific areas including personal finances, fighting terrorism and the economy, all buoyed by increased optimism among Democrats and independents. However, optimism on the situation in Iraq and on George W. Bush's policies in general has declined, with Republican optimism on Iraq, in particular, plummeting.
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