Most Americans pessimistic about next 12 months: poll

Americans are growing more negative about the track the country is on, according to a new poll. 

More than half of those surveyed in the ABC News/Ipsos poll published Sunday, or 55 percent, said they are pessimistic about the direction of the country. In May, 36 percent indicated the same thing.  

Forty-five percent of respondents now report feeling optimistic about the way things are going in the United States. Almost two in three – 64 percent — agreed in the May survey, however.

Optimism is currently down about 20 points among Democrats and Republicans, pollsters found, and down 26 points among independents.

Overall, more than 6 in 10 respondents, or 63 percent, approve of President Biden’s response to the pandemic.

With regards to the Delta variant of the coronavirus sweeping through the nation, mainly among unvaccinated Americans, about 6 in 10 also indicated they are concerned, with 20 percent saying they are “very” and 42 percent saying they are “somewhat” concerned that they or someone they know will become infected. 

Biden has spent the last several days pleading with unvaccinated Americans to receive a shot, and called out bad actors on the internet who are pushing false or misleading claims about vaccines. 

The ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted from July 23-24, among 527 adults. It has a margin of error of 5.0 percentage points.