Americans Still Upbeat, But Less So Than In Past

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans remain a generally upbeat lot, but all the skepticism, snark and dismal rhetoric being bandied about may be taking their toll.

Nearly two-thirds of people answering a Pew Research Center for the People and the Press/Smithsonian Magazine poll said they are optimistic about their future and that of the country - and a majority expect the economy to be strong in the future.

But while it's still a positive picture, it's much less so than a just over a decade earlier.

Some 64 percent of those polled said they are optimistic about their future, for example, but that's down from 81 percent in a similar poll in 1999.

At the same time, the proportion optimistic about the nation's future slipped from 70 percent to 61 percent, and those expecting a stronger economy fell from 64 percent to 56 percent.

The poll was conducted by telephone, with 1,546 adults polled from April 21-26. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_UPBEAT_AMERICA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-06-22-11-05-52

but America... not so much. I really couldn't give a shit though. You reap what you sow... that's how it goes...

And most Americans are far more beat up than upbeat.