Most Americans have dim view of current situation in U.S.: Gallup

As the U.S. election season begins, only four in 10 Americans rate the situation in the U.S. as positive, which is well below the historical average, a Gallup poll released Wednesday found.

The current rating is somewhat higher than the all-time lows in Gallup's trends, recorded before former President Richard Nixon's resignation over the Watergate scandal in 1974 (33 percent), and in the midst of a bad economy and soaring gas prices in 1979 (34 percent), Gallup found.

Democrats are sharply more positive than Republicans and independents. While 62 percent of Democrats hold positive views of the current situation in the U.S., only 23 percent of Republicans and 35 percent of independents do so.

The 40 percent of Americans who assess the current state of the nation positively is below the historical average of 49 percent across the 21 times Gallup has asked this question, the poll found.

Americans were most positive about the U.S. in January 2001, corresponding to the still-positive views of the economy as the dot-com boom was ending, and in January 2002, reflecting the rally effect that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Americans were also quite positive on a relative basis in 1959, 1964 and 1985, Gallup said.

The dampened ratings are probably related to Americans' high levels of dissatisfaction with their government and the way it is operating, as well as continuing concerns about the economy and terrorism, according to Gallup.

Still, Americans' rating of where they think the U.S. will be in five years (56 percent positive) is just below the historical average of 59 percent, although well below individual high points, including readings in the 70 percent range in 1959 and 2002, according to Gallup.

Republicans' dour view of the nation may also lead them to believe that even a new Republican president will need to change the way business is done in Washington to improve the situation, Gallup found.

This may help in understanding how Republican front-runner Donald Trump's non-political background has resonated well with segments of the Republican Party, Gallup said.

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's mainstream political resume may appeal to Democrats because a majority of them are positive about the current situation in the U.S., and therefore presumably not averse to a traditional Democratic president who continues those policies, Gallup found.