NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll: 2016 ‘An Election About Fear'

Six in 10 voters say the election has made them less proud of the country

The winner of Tuesday's presidential election will confront a nation that has grown increasingly pessimistic, divided and bitter about the state of American politics, according to the final national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll of the 2016 presidential race.

Sixty-four percent of likely voters say the election of the next president has made the nation more divided, versus 23 percent who think it's made it more united.

Six in 10 voters, meanwhile, say the election has made them less proud of the country — compared with just 12 percent who said that before the 2008 presidential election.

"This election was never about hope, but it was an election about fear," says Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who conducted the NBC/WSJ survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff and his firm. "Donald Trump's message was the fear of what was happening to America, and Hillary Clinton's was about the fear of Donald Trump."

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