Americans aren't exhausted by the idea of America. They're exhausted by the people who keep promising to improve it and then making life more expensive, more bureaucratic, and less accountable. That's the clearest reading of Elon University's new America250 poll, released June 2, 2026, which found that 68% of adults are proud to be American, even as 69% said the signers of the Declaration would feel more disappointment than pride about modern democracy. That's a country that still believes in itself — but no longer believes its institutions deserve a standing ovation.

Dig into the party breakdown and the numbers demand attention. Nearly all Republican adults — 95% — say they're proud to be American. Among Democrats, that number drops to 48%, and a majority said they'd rather live in another country. This isn't a minor difference between competing policy visions. It's a fundamental divide about whether America is worth defending in the first place.

64% of respondents said they have little or no confidence that political institutions will make mostly good decisions over the next 50 years, and 80% said no political party or movement........

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