As the new year approaches, it is common to reflect on the year that has passed and anticipate the coming year. A recent CBS/YouGov poll released by CBS News indicates that Americans are more optimistic about 2025 compared to their outlook for 2024 at the same time last year.
Can you blame us?
Heading into 2025 Americans are more hopeful than discouraged — and more outright hopeful than they were heading into 2024. Last year was more mixed.
It does look like this very political past year is affecting that larger outlook going into next year.
Among those who say they’re generally hopeful about 2025, their top reason is that Donald Trump will be president.
Surprisingly, the incoming presidency holds a higher ranking as a source of hope for 2025 than personal relationships and finances for many Americans. However, there is a twist to this optimism.
Although 57 percent of respondents expressed feelings of hope, as opposed to 47 percent the previous year, the breakdown of responses by party affiliation reveals interesting insights. Sixty percent of those who feel hopeful mentioned “Trump becoming president” as a reason for their optimism, while a significant 85 percent of those who feel discouraged also pointed to Trump’s presidency as a source of their discouragement.
Gosh, who didn’t see that coming?
Now, 85 percent of Republicans, 49 percent of Independents, and a mere 38 percent of Democrats were among those who replied they were “hopeful.” Honestly, given the wailing and gnashing of teeth coming from Democrats these days, it’s amazing that as many as 38 percent of Democrats are “hopeful.” One wonders, in fact, if these are the same people who are pushing Kamala Harris to run for president again in 2028.
If so, we should encourage them; then, we could be even more optimistic when we look forward to 2029.
Oh, and Joe Biden? In this survey, his approval is down and sinking fast, with 39 percent approving and 61 percent disapproving of his job as president – which tells me that 39 percent of the respondents have evidently been living in a cave somewhere in Outer Mongolia for the last four years.
