A new Economist/YouGov poll just confirmed what the rest of us already knew: nearly four in ten Democrats are ashamed to be American. That's 38% of an entire political party that wants your vote, wants your tax dollars, and wants to reshape the country they apparently can't stand living in.
Let that marinate. These are the same people who lecture us about "democracy" every fifteen seconds. They love democracy so much they're embarrassed by the republic that invented it.
The poll, conducted June 13-15 among 1,549 respondents with a margin of error of ±3.5 percentage points, found that 26% of Democrats say they are "somewhat ashamed" to be American while another 12% went full throttle and said they're "very ashamed." Meanwhile, only 22% of Democrats said they were "very proud" to be American, with another 18% managing a lukewarm "somewhat proud." A solid 22% couldn't even pick a side and went with "neither proud nor ashamed."
Compare that to Republicans. 78% of Republicans said they are "very proud" to be American. Another 15% said "somewhat proud." The shame number? Three percent. Total.
Three percent versus thirty-eight percent. That's not a gap. That's a canyon.
It gets worse. The poll also asked how America stacks up against other countries, and 45% of Democrats said America compares poorly. A quarter of them — 25% — called the United States "worse than average." Another 14% said we're "among the worst." And 6% of Democrats actually said the United States of America is "the worst" country in the world.
The worst. In the world. Not Iran. Not North Korea. Not Venezuela, where people eat zoo animals. America.
Among all Americans, the numbers tell a very different story. A combined 54% said America is either the greatest country in the world, among the greatest, or better than average. Twenty-one percent said flat-out "the greatest country in the world." Another 20% said "among the greatest." Overall, only 12% of all respondents said they were "somewhat ashamed" and just 8% said "very ashamed."
So the shame caucus is overwhelmingly concentrated in one party. Guess which one.
Here's what kills me. If you genuinely believe your country is "the worst" — worse than every dictatorship, theocracy, and failed state on the planet — why are you running for school board? Why are you campaigning for Congress? Why are you trying to be president of a nation you think is a dumpster fire?
The answer, of course, is that they don't actually want to serve the country. They want to remake it. You can't "fundamentally transform" something you're proud of. The shame is the feature, not the bug.
This poll lands right as we head into the Fourth of July season — the time of year when normal Americans fire up the grill, fly the flag, and thank God they were born here. Meanwhile, 38% of the other party will be at brunch explaining to their friends why fireworks are problematic.
Seventy-eight percent of Republicans: proud. Thirty-eight percent of Democrats: ashamed. If you ever needed a clearer picture of which party actually loves this country, the Economist and YouGov just handed it to you on a silver platter.
