I wouldn’t expect it to last:

WASHINGTON — Americans have soaring hopes for the incoming Obama administration and an even higher opinion of the man they just elected president, a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows.

Nearly seven in 10 adults, or 68%, say they have a favorable opinion of President-elect Barack Obama. Nearly that many — 65% — say they think the country will be better off four years from now.

Meanwhile, belief that our country is headed in the right direction is at an all-time low.

WASHINGTON (CNN)—On the day that President-elect Barack Obama visited the White House, a new national poll illustrates the daunting challenges he faces when it becomes his home next year.

Only 16 percent of those questioned in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday say things are going well in the country today. That’s an all-time low. Eighty-three percent say things are going badly, which is an all-time high.

“The challenge Obama faces has never been greater. No president has ever come to office during a time when the public’s mood has been this low. In the 34 years that this question has been asked, the number who say things are going well has never fallen below 20 percent,” said Keating Holland, CNN’s polling director.

We’ll see what happens, but with the stage set for a repeat of Carter’s 1976 - 1980 term in office I doubt things are going to get better.

And that jab about Carter isn’t hyperbole either.  In the 1976 election the electorate was ticked off at Republicans (thanks to Nixon).  In the 2008 elections, the electorate was ticked off at Republicans (for saying one thing and doing another).

The last Democrat candidate for President to get a majority of the popular vote was...Jimmy Carter.

The last time Democrats had these margins of power in Congress (depending on how a few still-contested Senate races come out) was...1976.

The last time this country elected a President as liberal as Barack Obama was...1976.

All the pieces are in place.  We’re in for four years of misery, with the only sliver lining being that maybe - just maybe - things will get bad enough for Americans to recoil in horror and then choose a decent conservative candidate.

Just like they did in...1980.