Americans Still Consider United States Great Nation

Considering the enormous challenges the United States has faced in recent years - massive economic crisis, two wars now lasting a decade, political crisis and a lack of national leadership - these numbers polling numbers from Pew are quite inspiring. 

What I found most interesting about the response is that 53 percent of those who responded believe the United States "is one of the greatest countries in the world, along with some others."  Nearly six-in-ten (57%) say that "as Americans, we can always find ways to solve our problems and get what we want." Just 37% say "this country can't solve many of its important problems."   Congress and the White House surely understand these voters are not just optimistic folk but also activitist -- they are not just hoping for problems to be solved but expect them to be solved.

The last time Pew conducted this poll was 2004 and at that point 59% of respondents expressed confidence in the US's ability to deal with major problems.

But what I found of particular interest was the differentiation between liberals and conservatives in their views of the United States vs. the rest of the world.  Conservatives had a significantly higher view of American exceptionalism than liberals -- 62 percent to 19 precent when asked if they considered the United States "standing above all other countries."

Being less than a year and half away from the next presidential elections and control of the US Senate being decided, we have long felt foreign policy is going to become a critical decision point for voters.  If the US voters feel that President Obama has done nothing to solve our critical problems -- and the Democratically controlled Senate is conplicit -- both will be voted out of office.  Americans are proud of their nation and a great majority of Americans believe the US must be strong enough influence world events -- although that does not necessarily mean bombing tinpot despots like Ghaddafi in Libya with no strategic vision.   Hopefully, Pew will conduct this poll again several months in advance of the 2012 elections.  It will be quite interesting to see if these numbers have moved.