NPR interviewed a group of swing voters—people who regularly vote for both Democrats and Republicans—about what it means to be American on the country's 250th anniversary. Their answers painted a mixed picture: some hopeful, some worried, some uncertain. None of them agreed on a single view.

The group comes from five competitive states that decide elections: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Nevada. NPR keeps their last names private so they can be honest about politics. Seven people spoke for the July 4 article: John, Jason, Wally, Gerald, Theresa, Evan, and Lee.

When asked to describe America's direction in one word, they said things like "uncertain," "concerned," "hopeful," "worried," and "cautiously optimistic." No single word came up more than once.

NPR also ran a poll asking Americans whether they were proud to be American. Sixty-five percent said yes. But the answer changed dramatically depending on party. Ninety-three percent of Republicans said they were proud. Only 45 percent of Democrats did. That 48-point gap shows how divided the country is—and why swing voters matter so much. They are the people sitting right in the middle of that divide.

The individual voters tell you why swing voters are hard to predict. Gerald from Georgia voted for Obama and Biden, then switched to Trump. Wally from Georgia voted for Trump in 2024 but wasn't enthusiastic about it and has since turned against him. Evan from Wisconsin did the opposite: he was a Republican his whole life before voting Democratic for the first time in 2024.

Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are the states that decide almost every election. NPR loaded the panel with people from these states on purpose. The group is designed to track how people are thinking before the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential race.

Asking people on July 4 whether they are proud to be American gets at a basic question: How patriotic is the country feeling right now? That is separate from whether people approve of the president or like certain policies. The 65 percent figure matters because it sets a baseline. Forty-five percent of Democrats saying they are proud is not a total crisis, but it is low enough that Democrats running in close races will have to think hard about how they talk about the country heading into November 2026. Republicans at 93 percent have almost no room to grow in their own base, so both parties will focus on convincing the voters in the middle—exactly the people NPR is tracking.

NPR does not use the voters' real last names because it wants them to speak freely, not worry about being identified or held accountable. That means readers cannot check up on whether these people actually voted the way they say they did. But that tradeoff is worth it. The real value of the project is watching the same people over multiple election cycles to see how they change their minds—not in following one single poll.

With the midterms still months away, this panel of swing voters—some hopeful, some anxious—shows where persuadable Americans actually are emotionally. Democrats and Republicans will probably look at the same answers and reach different conclusions. That disagreement is actually the key insight: swing voters genuinely feel torn.