Right Direction, Wrong Track?

Doesn't it seem odd that one of the most important questions asked in almost every national poll (and many local ones too) is "Generally speaking, do you think that things in this country are going in the right direction, or do you feel things have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track?" (This is taken from a GREENBERG QUINLAN ROSNER RESEARCH poll for Democracy Corps). How come you can't be headed in the right direction but on the wrong track? Or why can't you be on the right track but headed in the wrong direction? I am sure most people understand this question, but right direction and wrong track are not opposites. Why not right direction or wrong direction? Or, "are we on the right track or the wrong track?"

"Now leaving track 9, the Right Wing Express, making stops at Iraq, Social Security privatization, tax cuts, deficits, gay discrimination, and where ever else necessary prior to derailment."