Americans' satisfaction with U.S. direction remains low: poll

Only about three in 10 Americans, or 29 percent, are satisfied with the way things are going in the United States, continuing the trend of low satisfaction levels since 2007, found a newly-released Gallup poll.

Americans' satisfaction has averaged 24 percent across the 89 months of the Obama administration to date, well below the average 37 percent level since Gallup began measuring it in 1979, according to Gallup.

In addition to the past eight years, Americans were also sour on the situation of the U.S. during challenging economic times in 1979 and the early 1980s, and between 1992 and 1995, Gallup said.

As is always the case, satisfaction differs sharply by party identification, with Republicans' current 10 percent satisfaction versus Democrats' 51 percent.

Since Obama took office, Republicans' satisfaction levels have averaged 10 percent and have not strayed far from that mark, according to Gallup.

The low satisfaction levels in recent years mean that Obama will be leaving office with an overall satisfaction average -- 24 percent for the 89 months of his presidency so far.

That is lower than the average measured across the term of any president since Jimmy Carter. Gallup had three measures during the Carter administration, all in 1979, which averaged 19 percent.

But it is not totally clear what Americans' perceived satisfaction will mean for the ongoing presidential election, Gallup said.

Much can happen between now and the election day in early November, although history shows that the satisfaction readings in the first six months of the year are highly related to where satisfaction ends up for the year overall, Gallup noted. Endit