We asked Americans to describe the state of the US in one word: The answers weren't pretty
Some Americans feel bad about the state of the country today.
Most of the rest feel even worse.
In a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll, we asked 1,000 voters to volunteer a single word that describes, for them, the state of the nation. Spoiler alert: The mood of America isn't sunny.
In short, they said, the United States is an "awful," "chaotic," "divided" "mess."
The most common response, offered by 31%, was "awful," "poor" or "terrible," words we grouped together as similar in meaning.
Another 20% said "chaotic," "disastrous," "messy."
Then 16% volunteered "divided," "confused," "turmoil."
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Combined, these downbeat adjectives comprised two-thirds of those surveyed. Which doesn't mean the others were feeling upbeat. There were the 6% who said "sadness/depressed/angry," the 4% who said "failing democracy/decline," and the 2% who said "scary/horrific/disgusting."
Optimistic words were down in the single digits.
Five percent offered "great/stable/encouraging" and 3% said "improving/better/hopeful" – perhaps on the theory that things couldn't get worse?
The poll of 1,000 likely midterm election voters, taken Oct. 19-24 by landline and cell phone, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Poll: Voters described the U.S. in one word. It isn't pretty.
