2014: The year in the polls
Polling in 2014 found Americans voicing a lot of worry and concern - and continued dissatisfaction toward Washington that managed to hit record numbers by some measures. Americans offered slightly more positive views of the economy overall then in recent years, but nothing like pre-crash levels. And the political year, of course, culminated with big GOP victories, bolstered by their voters' enthusiasm, which started building quite early.
Here's a look at some numbers that caught our eye throughout 2014:
In January, President Obama's approval rating stood at 46 percent. 37 percent said the economy was good. 32 percent expected less cooperation between the President and Congress than in 2013.
In February, 79 percent expressed anger or dissatisfaction with Washington.
In March, 27 percent of Republicans were already very enthusiastic about voting in November, and 81 percent of said they definitely planned to vote. Only 68 percent of Democrats said they definitely planned to vote, and 42 percent of Democrats said they were not very enthusiastic/not enthusiastic about voting.
In May, only 5 percent of voters said most members of Congress deserved re-election: an all time low in CBS News polls. (In November, most did win reelection.)
In June, 47 percent of Republicans said having Tea Party challenges in the primaries was a good thing for the party. (In the end, incumbent GOP senators survived those challenges.)
In July, 50 percent worried the future for the next generation of their family would be worse compared to today.
In September, 55 percent of Republicans said they viewed their midterm vote as one cast against President Obama.
In September, the GOP led the generic House ballot by +6 in CBS News polling; in October it was +7.
In October, 40 percent of Americans were very concerned there would be a large outbreak of Ebola within the United States.
In November, on election night, most voters had negative views of the Democrats (55 percent) and Republicans (54 percent) and the Obama administration (59 percent). 65 percent of voters said country was on the wrong track.
December closed the year with some upbeat views on gas prices, as 69 percent said they'd use the savings from lower gas prices for bills and expenses.