Washington (CNN) -- Between the Ebola threat, fears about ISIS, a slow economic recovery and little enthusiasm for President Barack Obama or Congress, it's hard to believe that many Americans feel good about anything. But an overlooked piece of data in a recent CNN/ORC poll revealed a surprising number of Americans are upbeat despite the seemingly constant onslaught of bad news. When asked, "how are things going in the country today," 50% of respondents said things were going either "very well" or "fairly well." Of course, that's not an overwhelming vote of confidence in the state of the union. And, indeed, 49% of people in the same survey felt the country was in bad shape.
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Many Americans still optimistic despite negative headlines.
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Optimism isn't helping Democrats heading into the midterms.
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Poll shows this is only the seventh time since 2004 that at least 50% said they felt this good.
ISIS
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Americans
Americans
Americans
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