Americans Are Happy, Happy, Happy

Today Gallup released the latest version of one of my favorite survey questions:

The reason this question fascinates me is simple: it makes a hash out of the quadrennial deluge of stories telling us that Americans are deeply frustrated with life and are demanding a president who can address their profound angst.

Maybe so. And yet Americans generally seem pretty happy as long as the economy is in good shape. What’s more, there are plenty of other measurements of happiness that tell the same story. As long as you have a steady job, you’re probably feeling OK.

Politically, I assume this is good news for Republicans. On the other hand, it turns out that satisfaction has a very partisan cast this year:

Can Democrats turn their deep gloom into an election win? I don’t know. Stay tuned.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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