Americans’ optimism is dying – The Washington Post By Dana Milbank Opinion writer

the gloom goes beyond wealth, gender, race, region, age and ideology. This fractious nation is united by one thing: lost faith in the United States. …

[T]he problem is the result of two decades of scorched-earth politics. That’s bad news for the rest of us, though, because the problem is larger than any leader’s ability to bring hope and change. …

“To me, this is less about economic reality than about our political system — our lack of confidence that our political leaders, regardless of party, are equipped to deal with the future.” —Fred Yang, the Democratic pollster who conducted the survey along with Republican Bill McInturff.

Americans’ optimism is dying – The Washington Post

Take it back before Idiot DUHbya and Dark Lord Cheney, back to Raygun, or further to Tricky Dick and thug Agnew, or further to Goldwater.