There are multiple ways to look at this depending how you view people in your country People's opinions are manipulated by either media (i.e. corporations) or

There are multiple ways to look at this depending how you view people in your country People's opinions are manipulated by either media (i.e. corporations) or government and they are told what to worry about. Just because economy seems to be doing well in this poll, it could be because people are told it is doing well. Now I haven't looked at any indicators, so maybe it is actually doing well, but I am using it as an example here. Unemployment could be an exception here. People do feel that personally, it is a lot less abstract. So maybe that is closer to reality. But even healthcare, so many think it is now "being fixed" so they stop worrying about it. During Bush's time we see worrying about a moral decline, It is likely not because people were particularly immoral then but his rhetoric focused on religious groups (Evangelicals) and he used them as a block pretty much to vote for him. Then guns. Look at that, in 2013 people were so worried about them. Why? Almost just as worried as the "Lack of money". It is probably not because people were shot left and right, but because the administration, the media, and various gun groups (NRA) picked that as a talking between them. So this is just as much about what is really wrong with the country vs what people believe is wrong with the country and the two things don't have to be the same. It also shows how easy it is to manipulate people and changing their political agenda.