Poll: Republicans’ Optimism About Their Lives Sinks

Republicans grew much more pessimistic about their lives last month, according to a Gallup poll.

Its Live Evaluation Index dropped to 40.3 for Republicans in November from 47.0 a month earlier. Democrats turned more optimistic, with their Life Evaluation Index rising to 56.9 from 53.7 in October.

That put the gap between Democrats and Republicans at 16.6 points, a record high. It also represents a sharp reversal from early 2008, when President George W. Bush was in office and Republicans frequently outscored Democrats by 10 points.

So why were Democrats feeling so much better than Republicans in November? “It could be that Democrats felt more hopeful about their candidate [President Barack Obama] than Republicans did about GOP nominee Mitt Romney,” Gallup’s Elizabeth Mendes writes.

Overall, Americans’ Life Evaluation Index declined for the third month in a row during November, to 47.2, the lowest since October 2012, thanks to lower numbers for Republicans and independents.

Gallup comes up with the index by asking respondents to rank how their life feels currently on a scale of 0 to 10 and how their lives appear for the future based on the same scale.