Survey: Most See Country as Changed for Worse

(Newsroom America) -- A new survey says while most Americans agree that President Barack Obama has kept his 2008 campaign pledge to change the country, that change has mostly been for the worse.

The Hill newspaper, which conducted the survey, found that 56 percent of respondents felt that way, compared to just 35 percent who say the country's changed for the better under the president's stewardship.

"The results signal broad voter unease with the direction the nation has taken under Obama’s leadership and present a major challenge for the incumbent Democrat as he seeks reelection this fall," the paper said.

The survey, conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, comes on the heels of a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court last month, which upheld the president's signature health care law as constitutional.

In writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said the law's controversial individual mandate, which will require Americans to purchase health insurance beginning in 2014, was proper because it was not a penalty but in reality a tax - and that Congress has the authority to levy a tax.

The poll found that 68 percent of respondents, whether they support the president or not, believe he has substantially transformed the nation since being inaugurated in 2009.

During his first campaign, Obama said he wanted to "fundamentally change" the country.

Most Republicans - 91 percent - believe Obama has changed the country for the worse. But, the survey found, 1-in-5 Democrats say so as well.

The poll also found that most respondents don't believe Romney will bring such dramatic change to the nation, though 50 percent said he would bring about a "significant" level of change, "a finding that may reflect the desire among anti-Obama voters for a reversal of the president’s policies," the paper said.

Besides the health care law, Obama and Democratic majorities in both Houses of Congress passed the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, which led to some of the most sweeping changes on Wall Street since the days of the Great Depression in the 1930s - reforms that have been criticized as focusing too little on the issues that supposedly contributed most to the 2007-2009 Great Recession, which many economists believe is lingering still.

Obama has also become the first president to embrace gay marriage, though throughout his 2008 campaign and after taking office remained opposed to it. Critics say he changed his mind recently as a way to appeal to part of his base of support.

The Hill survey also found an overwhelming majority - 89 percent - believe this year's election between Obama and likely GOP nominee Mitt Romney as important in terms of its impact on the future of the country.

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