Most Americans say they're worse off under Obama

The survey, conducted Dec. 4-7, finds that 51 percent of respondents think their situation has deteriorated, compared with 35 percent who say they're doing better. The balance isn't sure. Americans have grown more downbeat about the country's future in just the last couple of months, the poll shows. The pessimism cuts across political parties and age groups, and is common to both sexes.

The negative sentiment may cast a pall over the holiday shopping season, according to the poll. A plurality of those surveyed -- 46 percent -- expects to spend less this year than last; only 12 percent anticipate spending more. Holiday sales rose by just under a half percent last year after falling by almost 4 percent in 2008.

"It's definitely different this year than it's been," says poll respondent Larry Deyo, a 38-year-old father of two in Marlton, New Jersey. "I can't really do too much with spending." He says he lost his job at a kitchen and bath design center when the company closed, and he's now working at a Home Depot Inc. store with a "significant decrease" in pay.

When you consider that over 8% of the workforce is made up of government workers, (with another 11% who work as government contractors) that 35% who think they are doing better takes on a whole different meaning.