United we stand. And unhappy

North Carolinians today are united about one thing: They’re unhappy, and they’re dissatisfied with the direction of the state and country.

In our recent statewide poll of 967 voters, conducted by Change Research July 29-August 1:

· 71% of voters said they’re “not satisfied with the direction things are going in North Carolina today”

· Only 10% said they are satisfied, and 19% aren’t sure.

· Asked about the “the direction things are going in America today,” 70% said they’re not satisfied, 21% are satisfied and 10% aren’t sure.

I’ve lived through unhappy times in politics, like Vietnam and Watergate. But nothing like this.

Voters’ negativity was the single most striking finding in our poll. It pervades every demographic group, every region of the state and every political affiliation.

The least unhappy people are those who voted for Trump in 2024. “Only” 53% of them say they aren’t satisfied with the direction of the country; 25% of them are satisfied and 21% aren’t sure.

The most unhappy people are aged 18-34. An astounding 82% of them aren’t satisfied with the country’s direction; only 9% are.

People that age, keep in mind, have lived in a world defined by 9/11, unending wars, recession, racial tension, social media, Covid and Trump.

Looking at the dismal picture, our pollster Stephen Clermont said, “Covid and Trump broke our brains.”

Not surprisingly, no political figure or institution gets glowing ratings:

· Former Governor Roy Cooper has the highest positive rating, 40%. He also gets a 43% unfavorable rating - the price he pays for being a candidate this year.

· Governor Josh Stein is the only public figure we tested who got a positive rating: 37% favorable to 34% unfavorable.

· Trump gets 57% unfavorable-37% unfavorable. He’s down to hard-core MAGA support.

· Neither political party is popular. Republicans get 56% unfavorable-34% favorable; Democrats, 53%-33% unfavorable.

We asked voters to rate how well North Carolina is doing on a range of issues, and they gave the state positive ratings on only two things: “providing good roads and highways” (50% positive-47% negative) and “protecting the right to vote” (47-43% positive).

Everything else got negative marks:

- Protecting the environment, 48% negative-41% positive.

- Protecting fair elections, 46% negative-40% positive.

- Protecting people against crime, 53% negative-40% positive.

- Providing economic opportunity for all, 51% negative-39% positive.

- Providing equal justice for all, 57% negative-32% positive.

The worst ratings came on three big issues that affect millions of people in North Carolina:

- Only 26% gave the state a positive rating on “providing all children with good schools; 66% said negative.

- On providing affordable quality health care, 63% rated the state negative and only 26% positive.

- Worst of all, 74% gave the state a negative rating on “paying teachers;” only 18% - fewer than one in five - saw that as a positive.

Clearly, you can succeed in politics today by telling voters how bad things are.

The hard part is figuring out how to make things better - and how to give people hope and confidence in the future.

That isn’t going to come from Trump, and he isn’t going to let it come from the Republican Party.

It’s up to Democrats to make us believe in ourselves again.

You can see our full poll here.