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New Survey Reveals Americans Believe Country has ‘Lost its Identity’


FILE - A man waves an American flag as he watches a July Fourth parade in the village of Barnstable, Massachusetts, July 4, 2014.
FILE - A man waves an American flag as he watches a July Fourth parade in the village of Barnstable, Massachusetts, July 4, 2014.

Americans are not happy with the direction of the country, a new public-opinion poll reveals.

A Quinnipiac University survey released this week shows that 57 percent of Americans strongly or somewhat agree that “America has lost its identity.”

Similar numbers agreed with the statement “I’m falling further and further behind financially.”

These numbers were much higher for Republicans and even higher for those who say they support presidential hopeful Donald Trump.

Seventy-nine percent of Republicans agreed that America had lost its identity and 85 percent of Trump supporters agreed.

Sixty-seven percent of Republicans agreed that they are falling behind financially, while 78 percent of Trump voters agreed.

Forty-eight percent of Democrats agreed "strongly" or "somewhat" with the statement.

The poll also revealed that Republicans and Trump supporters felt their “beliefs and values are under attack, the government has gone too far in assisting minority groups and public officials don’t care much what people like me think.”

Forty percent of Democrats agree that their "beliefs and values are under attack" and 68 percent among Democrats agreed that “public officials don’t care much what people like me think.”

"Many American voters, especially Republicans, are dissatisfied with their own status and the status of the country, but by far the most dissatisfied are Donald Trump's supporters, who strongly feel that they themselves and the y are under attack," said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz.

"Trump supporters are true stand-outs. They want a leader who is very different from the leader sought by other voters, explaining the mystery many see behind Trump's support," Dr. Schwartz added.

The survey was conducted from March 16 to 21 and covered 1,451 voters. The margin of error is 2.6 percentage points.

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