At the top of the Democratic Party’s to-do list should be this item: “Develop a new narrative.” The party’s big summer meeting is coming up next week, so there’s still time. Maybe.

At the moment, the Dems are full of bluster and aggression, which persists despite the fact that there is some, uh, hope and change emerging in America at the moment — perhaps not quite as the Democrats envision, though. The nation pines for a little optimism. Multiple polls suggest that voters are weary of negative politics, hand-wringing, hostility, paranoia and predictions that the world is about to end because of climate change. The citizenry appears ready to stand up, reach out and make America great again.

Or words to that effect.

At the moment, President Trump’s campaign is receiving an unprecedented number of donations, particularly from those offering under $200 — which neutralizes claims that his campaign is all about big money. With 2020 about 19 weeks away, the economy and job creation remain robust despite all the alarmist news coverage of impending doom at the banks and plummeting stocks. There is progress on the national security and diplomatic fronts. There has been some meaningful progress on immigration as well.

“Our polling is really good. It’s very strong in the battleground states. People feel like the president has delivered. They also feel it in their lives, wages are up, they think ‘I can graduate college and go get a job’ and ‘there’s a lot of opportunity out there for me and my family.’ It’s resonating,” Republican National Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tells Fox News.

“And then they see the left — where every answer is more government, every answer is higher taxes, every answer is ‘we are going to take away your freedom and autonomy.’ I think a lot of people are looking at these two paths and recognize the president means prosperity and the left means socialism and poverty,” she said.

“We have something to run on and Democrats are about division, dividing our country. They are not offering anything that is going to make lives better. I think the president has a winning record — and a winning message,” Mrs. McDaniel observed.

REPORT FROM TRUMP COUNTRY

Forget the polls. Someone who makes their living selling MAGA merchandise to President Trump’s fans has a unique perspective on how they feel about the man they elected.

Phil Colwell, a traveling vendor for Trump campaign merchandise, has some perspective.

“We were in Cincinnati, Ohio, last week. We were in Greenville, North Carolina, the week before. We see it. We see these Trump people. We see how they react, what they buy. Times are good. It’s hard to beat a strong economy and a safe country. Those two things are hard to beat and Donald Trump has that,” Mr. Colwell tells the Concord Monitor, a New Hampshire news organization based in the state’s capital.

Business, Mr. Colwell adds, is “phenomenal.”

BEN’S ADVICE TO JOE

It is a persistent reality on the campaign trail. Mistakes, boo-boos, gaffes and unintentionally comedic moments stay with a presidential candidate for quite some time, endlessly replayed in the media, or revisited by merry political rivals. This is why the hopefuls are cautioned, for example, against eating in public, particularly at state fairs where deep-fried oddities on a stick are normal fare.

The handlers are on it, though.

“Allies to Joe Biden have been floating the idea of altering the former vice president’s schedule in an effort to reduce the gaffes he has made in recent days.

The allies, growing increasingly nervous about Biden’s verbal flubs, have said it’s an approach that’s been suggested to campaign officials on the heels of the former vice president’s stumbles,” writes Amie Parnes, an analyst for The Hill.

“Biden has a tendency to make the blunders late in the day, his allies say, particularly after a long swing on the road,” she says.

“Maybe he needs an early bedtime,” suggests Ed Morrissey, senior editor of HotAir.com.

“As Ben Franklin might have once said — early to bed, controlled by staff, makes a candidate healthy and less likely to gaffe,” he notes.

THE DRINKING FACTOR

Amazingly enough, a new Gallup poll gauging the nation’s drinking preferences also reveals that the drinking habits of political and ideological rivals are similar. Well, sort of. There are partisan divides here and there which suggest the voting public has some differences. Conservatives like beer the most, for example. Wine is the domain of Democrats, though the Dems do have a taste for beer as well.

Does it mean anything? You tell me. Here’s what the pollster found.

• 65% of Americans overall say they drink alcohol on occasion; 67% of Republicans, 66% of Democrats, 63% of conservatives and 71% of liberals agree.

• 38% overall say they prefer to drink beer; 31% of Republicans, 39% of Democrats, 44% of conservatives and 29% of liberals agree.

• 30% overall favor wine; 31% of Republicans, 37% of Democrats, 28% of conservatives and 34% of liberals agree.

• 29% overall favor liquor; 28% of Republicans, 31% of Democrats, 25% of conservatives and 33% of liberals agree.

• 2% like all three “equally”; 1% of Republicans, 2% of Democrats, 1% of conservatives and 2% of liberals agree.

The Gallup poll of 1,525 U.S. adults was conducted July 1-12 and released Aug. 9. Independents were a category in the poll, but not included here.

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POLL DU JOUR

• 56% of U.S. voters place a great deal of blame for mass shootings in the U.S. on the “lack of services for mentally ill people who show violent tendencies”; 60% of Republicans, 53% of independents and 53% of Democrats agree.

• 30% overall place some blame for the shootings on the lack of services; 27% of Republicans, 29% of independents and 33% of Democrats agree.

• 8% overall place little blame on the lack of services; 7% of Republicans, 10% of independents and 8% of Democrats agree.

• 3% overall place no blame on lack of services; 3% of Republicans, 4% of independents and 3% of Democrats agree.

• 3% overall are undecided or don’t know about the issue; 3% of Republicans, 5% of independents and 3% of Democrats agree.

Source: A Fox News poll of 1,013 registered U.S. voters conducted Aug. 11-13.

• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.

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