OUR BEST DAYS ARE BEHIND US?

These poll numbers were released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."

America's Best Days

Voters are slightly less pessimistic about the nation's future this month.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 35% of Likely U.S. Voters now believe America's best days lie ahead. Still, that's up four points from last month which marked the highest level of pessimism in nearly five years of surveying. A plurality (47%) continues to believe America's best days are in the past, but that's down six points from April. Eighteen percent (18%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here .)

Confidence in the nation's future has ranged from 31% to 48% since late 2006 but has generally been in the mid- to high 30s for much of the Obama presidency. Those who think America's best days are gone have ranged from 37% to 53% since November 2006.

The Political Class is much more optimistic. While 54% of Mainstream voters think America's best days are in the past, 73% of the Political Class see those days in the future.

Voters under the age of 40 are more optimistic about the future of the country than their elders. 

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of blacks say America's best days lie ahead, a view shared by just 31% of whites and 39% of voters of other races.

The national survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on May 25-26, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC . See  methodology .

Only 25% of all voters say they prefer a government with more services and higher taxes over one with fewer services and lower taxes.  Sixty-one percent (61%) prefer a smaller government, and another 14% are not sure.  This is consistent with findings on this question for several years.

Eighty-three percent (83%) of Republicans and 65% of voters not affiliated with either of the major parties prefer a smaller government with lower taxes. The plurality (47%) of Democrats likes a bigger government with higher taxes.

Similarly, while 71% of Mainstream voters prefer a smaller government, 49% of the Political Class like a bigger one.

Just 10% of all voters believe the United States should do what its allies want more often. But 54% think those allies should follow America's lead more often. Twenty-eight percent (28%) say neither is better.  This is generally consistent with findings since mid-March 2009.

Twenty percent (20%) of voters believe President Obama thinks it's better for the United States to do what its allies want more often.  Forty percent (40%) say the president thinks the allies should do what the United States wants more often, while 27% say he believes neither.

Since he assumed office in January 2009, between 20% and 31% have said Obama believes the United States should do what its allies want more often.  In those same surveys, 36% to 47% have said the president feels the allies should do what the United States wants more often.

A strong majority of voters still believe U.S. society is fair and decent  and tend to think the president doesn't agree with them.

Just 29% of voters say the country is heading in the right direction.