Even the people believe Obama is a Socialist

A News poll released Friday finds widespread belief among American voters that the country is on the decline as a civilization. In addition, a majority thinks the country is moving toward socialism.

A 62 percent majority of voters thinks the United States is on the decline. That's more than twice as many as the 26 percent who believe it is on the rise.

Most Republicans — 76 percent — think the country is in decline, and 64 percent of independents agree. Views among Democrats are more evenly split: 41 percent say on the rise and 43 percent say on the decline.

There's a slight gender gap as men (64 percent) are somewhat more likely than women (59 percent) to take the negative view of the country's progress. Across generations there is substantial agreement: young voters ages 35 and under (58 percent) are about as likely as seniors 65 and over (57 percent) to think things are on a downward slide.