Seven-in-ten say they have a great deal or fair amount of confidence in Obama to fix the economy; 55% say that about Democratic leaders and 38% about Republican leaders.
Most Americans (59%) say they would place a higher priority on spending more money to make health care more accessible and affordable than on reducing the budget deficit.
As many Republicans say their party’s leaders have failed to clearly articulate their position (42%) as say they have explained themselves clearly (41%).
Slightly more than a quarter of registered voters call themselves Republicans, a low in 16 years of polling by the Pew Research Center; most GOPers now think their party should move further to the right.
The period from 1999 to 2007 is the longest in modern U.S. economic history in which inflation-adjusted median household income failed to surpass an earlier peak.