The 9-percent satisfaction rate eclipses the previous low of 12 percent, recorded in 1979 during Jimmy Carter's presidency amid rising prices and gasoline shortages, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.

The reason for Americans' low level of satisfaction? The economy. Asked in the latest Gallup Poll to name the most important problem facing the country today, nearly 70 percent of respondents listed an aspect of the economy over any other problem mentioned, pollsters said.

The low level of satisfaction with the situation in the country provides a backdrop for Tuesday night's debate in Nashville. Democratic candidate Barack Obama has led Republican nominee John McCain by a significant margin in Gallup's tracking of presidential preferences for 10 days.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews Friday through Sunday with 1,011 adults. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.