Emotionally wrenching politics, foreign conflicts, and shootings at home took a toll on Americans in 2016, but they're entering 2017 on an optimistic note, according to a new poll that found a majority believes things are going to get better for the country next year, the AP reports. A look at the key findings of the AP-Times Square Alliance poll, which surveyed 1,007 adults online Dec. 9-11, with a sampling error margin of +/-3 percentage points:
- Americans weren't thrilled with the year. Only 18% said things for the country got better, 33% said things got worse, and 47% said it was unchanged from 2015.
- About 55% said they believe things will be better for them in the coming year than in the year that just concluded, a 12-point improvement from last year's poll.
- Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say 2016 was worse for the country than 2015, while Republicans are especially likely to feel that 2017 will be even better for them personally. A New York commercial real estate broker said the political discourse leading up to Republican Donald Trump's election as president played havoc with people's emotions, noting, "The amount of disinformation made people suspect of everything and everyone, even their neighbors."
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