A new Axios/Survey Monkey poll finds 61% of Democrats see Republicans as “racist/bigoted/sexist.”

Meanwhil, 31% of Republicans say they view Democrats in the same light.

”If Americans are this convinced that the other side isn’t just wrong, but dumb and evil, they’ll never be able to find enough common ground to solve real problems. And they’re more likely to elect leaders who can’t do it, either.”

Max Boot: “I am so sad. I am so heartbroken. What is happening to our country?”

“Tolerance for political and religious differences is a non-negotiable part of the social contract in the United States. It is the very core of our national identity, even if it has all too often been honored more in the breach than the observance. We settle our political differences through debate followed by voting. Political terrorism and sectarian bloodletting — these are the sorts of horrors that occur in the Balkans or the Middle East. Not here. Not in the land of the free. We’re better than this. We’re Americans.”

“Except now the horror show has arrived on our shores.”

Here’s a word cloud of the top answers from Democrats — “Donald Trump,” “The Media,” “The Republican Party,” “Racism.”

And here’s a word cloud of the top answers from Republicans — “Democratic Party,” “Barack Obama,” “Liberals,” “The Media,” “Godless.”

David Brooks: “It won’t surprise you to learn that the most active groups are on the extremes — Progressive Activists on the left (8 percent of Americans) and Devoted Conservatives on the right (6 percent).”

“These two groups are the richest of all the groups. They are the whitest of the groups. Their members have among the highest education levels, and they report high levels of personal security.”

“We sometimes think of this as a populist moment. But that’s not true. My first big takeaway from ‘Hidden Tribes‘ is that our political conflict is primarily a rich, white civil war. It’s between privileged progressives and privileged conservatives.”

Washington Post: “A hearing that was supposed to bring clarity instead erupted in thunderclaps from the nation’s built-up tensions over how the sexes are supposed to behave with each other. Judge Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her came ­before the Senate Judiciary Committee in ‘the wrong town at the wrong time,’ as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) put it.”

“The result was affirmation that Washington is as broken as it has ever been. Based on what the senators in the room said, the result was, once again, people hearing mostly what they were inclined to believe. The result, far from clarity, was a complex rush of emotions adding up to two families left in wreckage and a political system without even a pathway to cooperation.”

“The day ended with discord bordering on dark visions of a hopeless future.”

Perry Bacon: “We generally think of a person’s race or religion as being fixed — and that those parts of identity (being black, say, or evangelical Christian) drive political views. Most African-Americans vote Democratic. Most evangelical Christians vote Republican.”

“But New York University political scientist Patrick Egan has written a new paper showing evidence that identity and politics operate in the opposite direction too — people shift the non-political parts of their identity, including ethnicity and religion, to align better with being a Democrat or a Republican.”

Ron Brownstein: “This transition won’t occur overnight. For the 2020 presidential race, the top priority for most Democratic strategists remains recapturing the three Rust Belt states Donald Trump dislodged from the party’s “blue wall” by a combined margin of only about 80,000 votes: Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.”

“But many of those same strategists agree that as support for each party divides more sharply along racial, generational, and class lines, it will be difficult for Democrats to rely on predominantly white heartland states as much as they do today in presidential, congressional, and state races alike. And, through the next several elections, that will increase the pressure on Democrats to post deeper gains in Sun Belt states—such as Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, and perhaps even Texas—that more reflect their modern coalition.”

A new GfK poll shows that 14% of Americans are so worked up about politics these days that they’re actually losing sleep over it.

NBC News traces the “Qanon” conspiracy theory back to three people.

“Now, the people behind that effort are at the center of a fractious debate among conspiracy enthusiasts, some of whom believe the three people who first popularized the Qanon theory are promoting it in order to make a living. Others suggest that these original followers actually wrote Q’s mysterious posts.”

“While the identity of the original author or authors behind ‘Q’ is still unknown, the history of the conspiracy theory’s spread is well-documented — through YouTube videos, social media posts, Reddit archives, and public records reviewed by NBC News.”

Gallup: “Democrats have a more positive image of socialism than they do of capitalism. Attitudes toward socialism among Democrats have not changed materially since 2010, with 57% today having a positive view. The major change among Democrats has been a less upbeat attitude toward capitalism, dropping to 47% positive this year — lower than in any of the three previous measures.”

“Republicans remain much more positive about capitalism than about socialism, with little sustained change in their views of either since 2010.”

“Almost everybody has an opinion on national politics today. Even if you’re totally uninformed, you still have an opinion.”

— Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R), quoted by The Hill.

For the first time in Gallup‘s 18-year history asking U.S. adults how proud they are to be Americans, fewer than a majority say they are “extremely proud.”

Currently, 47% describe themselves this way, down from 51% in 2017 and well below the peak of 70% in 2003.