Despite an historic post-election drop in the stock market, Americans seem a bit more optimistic about the future since Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States last week.

Voter confidence in the War on Terror has reached its highest level ever, with 60% now saying the United States and its allies are winning, according to the first Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey on the issue since Election Day.

Fifty-five percent (55%) of U.S. voters rate the current Democratic-led Congress’ job performance as poor in a new Rasmussen Reports survey taken the night after Election Day. Just 11% think Congress is doing a good or excellent job.

After slipping to a record low Monday, the Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures the economic confidence of consumers on a daily basis, regained a couple of points on Tuesday to 62.9. Despite the gain, the Index is still down a point from a week ago, down five points from a month ago, and down thirty-six points from the beginning of 2008.

The Discover (R) Small Business Watch (SM) dropped for the second straight month as news of a congressional rescue plan failed to lift the spirits or expectations of the nation's 22 million small business owners.

During the month of October, 33% of American adults said they approved of the way that George W. Bush performed his job as president. That’s down two points from a month ago and just a single point above the President’s lowest level of approval yet recorded.

Following an historic election in which Democrats won the White House and increased their control of Congress, voters appear to be adopting a wait-and-see attitude on granting ongoing control to the victorious party.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows that Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman has opened a seven-percentage point lead over Democratic challenger Al Franken in his bid for re-election.

Newspaper circulation has been eroding, television audiences shrinking, and reporters sent looking for work. But, while mainstream journalists and their companies struggle with the realities of an online world, consumers of journalism are pleased with the results.

October 11th is Columbus Day—the holiday honoring the anniversary of the October 12, 1492 arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas. A recent Rasmussen Reports survey found that only 11% declare Columbus Day as one of the nation’s most important holidays.