The 2024 presidential election dominated the news cycle this year and not only are a majority of voters hopeful about the outcome, but they are also increasingly hopeful for the country’s future. And while half think it was a bad year, the number saying it was good is the highest since 2020 (at the end of the first year of the pandemic).
When it comes to the country’s future, 55% are extremely or very hopeful about what lies ahead. That’s an increase of 2 points since 2022. Between 2021 and 2022, optimism about the country’s future increased by 10 points. The question was not asked in 2023.
Overall, 45% are not very or not at all hopeful.
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The current numbers are determined by party political divisions – an overwhelming majority of them Republicans are hopeful for the country’s future (86%), while majorities of Democrats (72%) and Independents (54%) are not.
In 2021, things were reversed among partisans, albeit to a lesser extent: 6 in 10 Democrats said they were hopeful, while 7 in 10 Republicans and 6 in 10 Independents said they were not.
“Since the 1990s, attitudes toward the future have been strongly correlated with partisanship,” said Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who runs the Fox News Poll with Democrat Chris Anderson. “Still, there is more general optimism this year than we have seen in a while, as the fear and resentment of recent years appears to be subsiding.”
Looking back at 2024, 4 in 10 (40%) say it was a good year for their family, while half (50%) say it was a bad year for a net rating of -10. That’s an improvement from -14 last year (39% good, 53% bad) and substantially better than in 2020, when it was 44 points underwater (23% good, 67% bad). From 2012 to 2019, more voters were positive than negative about their year.
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By a 36-point margin, voters say 2024 was a bad year for America overall (28% good vs. 64% bad), but that’s better than the 65-point net negative rating for 2020 (13% good, 78% bad). Since 2018, when the question was first asked, opinions on the country’s year-end report have been in deficit.
Democrats (50% their family, 42% the country) are more likely than Republicans (34%, 19%) and independents (33%, 21%) think 2024 was a good year for them and the country.
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Another hopeful note…
Half of voters say “hopeful” describes how they feel about the 2024 presidential election (54%) – the highest among all other sentiments, including relieved (50%), surprised (50%), excited (48%), afraid (46%). %), depressed (40%) and angry (39%).
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This Fox News survey, conducted December 6-9, 2024, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), includes interviews with a sample of 1,015 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter base. Respondents spoke to live interviewers on landlines (125) and mobile phones (699) or completed the survey online after receiving a text message (191). Results based on the fully registered voter sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. The sampling error associated with the results among the subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, the wording and order of the questions can also influence the results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure that respondent demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight goals include the American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter base data.
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