The Hill News

Just over half of U.S. adults say they're worse off now than they were two years ago, a new poll found Thursday.

Fifty-one percent of Americans said their well-being had declined in the two years since President Obama took office, a Bloomberg News national poll found. Thirty-five percent said they're better off, while 14 percent were unsure.

The survey gets at one of the key metrics by which many voters judge political leaders, and helps explain the "shellacking" (to use Obama's description) that Democrats suffered at the polls this fall.

"Are you better off than you were four years ago?" was a slogan first used to some effect by Ronald Reagan in his race for president against incumbent President Jimmy Carter in 1980. Republicans are hopeful that a similar line of attack could work against O! bama in 2012.

In a similar vein, 66 percent of U.S. adults said the nation is on the wrong track, while 27 percent say the U.S. is on the right track.

The poll helps cast the political context in which Obama will fight for reelection in the next two years. He and other Democrats blamed high jobless numbers more than their own policies for their election losses in November.

To that end, the unemployment situation and jobs top the list of Americans' concerns, the poll found. Fifty percent of adults said that unemployment and jobs were the most important issue facing the country.

The poll, conducted Dec. 4-7, has a 3.1 percent margin of error.