If you want to know what the American spirit is, don’t ask a politician.

Ask the dad coaching Little League after a 10-hour workday. Ask the single mom who prays over the dinner table even when she’s not sure how she’ll pay the light bill. Ask the soldier who salutes a flag that too many in Washington now treat like a political prop instead of a sacred symbol.

The American spirit was never about government. It was about grit, grace, and the stubborn belief that no matter who you are or where you start, you can build a life rooted in faith, family, and freedom. It’s the heartbeat of a people who crossed oceans, tilled soil they didn’t own, and risked everything for the promise of something better.

Today, that spirit feels tested — maybe more than at any time in our lifetime. We live in a country where politics has become sport, truth has become optional, and too many Americans are told that our Founding ideals are relics of oppression rather than beacons of hope. Both parties have lost sight of who they work for. Both Democrats and Republicans “govern” like it’s a game or street fight. Somewhere between strategy and survival, the people get forgotten.

I’ll say this clearly: I love America. And when you love something, you’re expected to be critical of it. If you didn’t love your kids, you wouldn’t discipline them. Love doesn’t mean silence — it means wanting the best for what you hold dear. My criticism of America isn’t born of cynicism. It’s born of conviction that we can do better because we are better.

But here’s the thing: the American spirit isn’t dead. It’s just been buried under noise. And if you listen closely — past the headlines, the outrage, and the endless finger-pointing — you can still hear it.

I heard it at a Buccaneers game this past weekend. I was still in the concession area grabbing a beer when the national anthem began. Without anyone saying a word, the entire concourse stopped. Vendors, fans, security guards — everyone froze in place. Hats came off. Conversations stopped mid-sentence. For ninety seconds, the chaos of modern life went silent, and every person stood shoulder to shoulder, facing the direction of a flag they couldn’t even see. That’s the American spirit. Not something choreographed or forced, but something instinctive. Reverence that lives deep in the bones of ordinary people.

The American spirit is defiant and hopeful all at once. It’s rebellious in the best sense of the word. Our Founders didn’t wait for permission to pursue liberty — they acted on conviction. And they didn’t do it for fame or profit. They did it because they believed that human freedom was a divine calling, not a political gift. That belief came straight from Scripture: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” That’s not just a verse — it’s the origin story of the greatest nation on Earth.

Yet somewhere along the way, we traded that conviction for comfort. We let cynicism creep in. We started looking to politicians to fix what only character can. We looked to Washington for salvation when it should have started in our own homes, churches, and communities. We forgot that self-government begins with self-discipline.

When Alexis de Tocqueville came to America nearly two centuries ago, he was astonished not by our government but by our people — by their faith, their voluntary associations, their instinct to help neighbors before the state ever arrived. That’s what made America exceptional. Not that we were richer or smarter, but that we were moral and free.

Who needs to hear this? Honestly, everyone.

The young person taught that America is something to apologize for. The middle-aged voter who’s stopped believing that anything can change. The elected official who’s forgotten that public service is a trust, not a brand. And yes, even the conservative who’s become so jaded by corruption and media manipulation that they’ve forgotten hope is a weapon too.

We need to remember that pessimism never built anything worth keeping. Hope did. Faith did. The American spirit did.

If we can define that spirit, we can reclaim it. And reclaiming it starts with three things: we return to God, we rebuild the family, and we rediscover community.

No nation can sustain freedom without virtue, and no virtue survives long without faith. Our Founders knew this. John Adams said it plainly: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.” They didn’t separate church and state to erase faith from public life — they did it to protect the church from the state’s reach. Reclaiming the American spirit means bringing prayer back to dinner tables, courage back to pulpits, and humility back to our leaders.

Every cultural rot you can name — crime, addiction, confusion, despair — can be traced to the breakdown of the home. A strong nation begins with strong moms and dads who teach their children that life has purpose, that truth exists, and that love isn’t license — it’s responsibility. You can’t legislate that. You can only live it.

And the American spirit thrives in places Washington will never reach: small towns, ballfields, church pews, front porches. It’s where people still look each other in the eye and say, “How can I help?” instead of, “Who did you vote for?”

Reclaiming that isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about survival. Because when you know your neighbor, you’re less likely to hate him. When you serve your church, you’re less likely to feel hopeless. And when you live with purpose, you stop waiting for politicians to deliver meaning they were never meant to provide.

So yes, criticize the left for weaponizing victimhood. But don’t spare the right for losing moral courage. The problem isn’t just policy — it’s pride. It’s thinking we can restore the country through ballots alone without first reviving our souls.

The American spirit was born in defiance of tyranny, but it survived through obedience — to God, to conscience, to truth. It’s not red or blue — it’s red, white, and blue. And it belongs to anyone willing to live by the creed our Founders staked their lives on: that freedom is worth the fight, that virtue is worth the cost, and that faith is worth the ridicule.

We are not finished as a nation. We are being refined. And maybe that’s exactly what the American spirit has always been. Tested, but never broken; humbled, but never hopeless; faithful, even when the world mocks the faith itself.

As we stand on the eve of America’s 250th birthday, let’s take that spirit seriously. We’re a ways removed from the fireworks and speeches of July 4th, but those celebrations will come soon enough. The question is: what kind of country will we be when that day arrives? Let’s make sure that when America turns 250, she’s not limping into it — she’s standing tall, proud, and faithful. Let’s be in the best spiritual, cultural, and moral shape we’ve ever been. That would be the greatest gift we could give to the generations who will inherit her next.

Our anthem says it best: “The land of the free and the home of the brave.” Not the land of the perfect. Not the home of the comfortable. But of the brave — the men and women who choose hope over hate, sacrifice over cynicism, and God over government.

That’s the American spirit. And it’s still alive.

You just have to look around.

Because it’s us.

It’s We the People.

Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and podcast “We The People.” Follow him on Instagram and X @GatesGarciaFL.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat candidate seeking to be the next governor of Virginia, has pitched herself as a moderate who opposes “extremism” in an attempt to win the purple state. When asked about basic policy positions, she’s dissembled and deflected, refusing to answer or giving what her opponent has called a “word salad.”

But actions speak louder than words, and the former congresswoman has plenty of actions on record. How did she actually vote when taking a stance was part of the job? According to a new study from the Institute for Legislative Analysis, the reality doesn’t align with the rhetoric.

“Our analysis makes one thing clear: Abigail Spanberger’s voting record is consistently more aligned with the far-left wing of the Democratic Party,” Ryan McGowan, CEO of the Institute for Legislative Analysis, told The Daily Wire.

On crime, she held “extreme progressive” views, opposing a bill to stop Washington, D.C., from charging 24-year old violent criminals as juveniles — a measure supported by a police union as essential to stopping violent crime. When the D.C. City Council passed reforms that lowered penalties for crimes like carjacking and homicide, D.C.’s mayor viewed it as so soft-on-crime that she vetoed it.

But the city council overrode the veto, causing Congress to step in to block it. Spanberger opposed blocking it, putting her to the left of then-President Joe Biden, who intervened to block the city council’s move. Many D.C. Democrats now view the city’s foray into leniency for violent criminals as a major mistake.

At a debate last week, Spanberger claimed that she would never allow Virginia to be a sanctuary state — seemingly a nod to the idea’s unpopularity — but was vague on specifics, and in other segments of the debate indicated that she would defer to counties to make policy. Virginia’s most populous counties, which also house most of the illegal immigrants, are controlled by Democrats.

In Congress, Spanberger’s voting record on immigration was categorized as “extreme progressive,” according to the analysis. She opposed the Laken Riley Act, the bill named after a young woman slain by an illegal immigrant which would place violent illegal aliens in federal custody, and the “Schools Not Shelters Act,” which would prevent housing illegal immigrants near children. She opposed the Protecting our Communities from Failure to Secure the Border Act, which prohibited federal money from housing illegal immigrants, even though Democrats like Marie Perez (D-WA), who caucused for Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), supported it.

Virginia is a purple state with a narrowly-divided legislature, but for the last two years, both chambers have been controlled by Democrats. Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, has vetoed hundreds of bills that would have otherwise enacted far-Left policy.

Spanberger’s refusal to call for attorney general candidate Jay Jones to drop out of the race after texts emerged of him fantasizing about murdering the family of a Republican have led her opponent, Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, to accuse her of lacking “courage.” At a debate with Earle-Sears, Spanberger repeatedly dodged the moderator’s questions about what action — as opposed to mere condemnation — she would take in response to Jones’ texts, and instead blamed Republicans for the texts coming to light before the election.

All of that suggests Spanberger might serve as a rubber-stamp to Democrats in the state legislature — a vastly different party than the one many residents remember after many traditional Democrats were purged in 2019 after being primaried from the Left. The House of Delegates is now run by a convicted crack dealer, Speaker Don Scott.

The analysis of Spanberger’s voting record in Congress found that in some cases, she took stances that would increase regulations when even far-Left Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-MI) did not.

On federal spending, she held a voting record further to the Left than Ocasio-Cortez when it comes to several key votes, according to the Institute’s analysis. The former CIA operative opposed an amendment offered by Squad member Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) to rein in Pentagon spending on low-priority projects. She opposed the USE IT Act, which would require the government to sell off buildings that were more than 40% empty — something even Progressive Caucus Chair Andrea Salinas (D-OR) supported.

On national security, she was moderate when it came to terrorism, supporting the designation of the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization. But she was further left than Progressive Caucus Democrats when it came to safeguarding the United States from China, according to the study. She opposed a bill to create a Chinese Communist Party Initiative at the Department of Justice to “curb spying” — a bill that was supported even by then-Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who infamously dated the Chinese spy Fang Fang. She opposed the “DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act,” which aimed to stop the Chinese government from setting up outposts in American schools.

On energy, Spanberger opposed a bill ensuring that gas stoves could not be outlawed, a response to a Biden initiative so extreme that the president later rolled it back. She supported an amendment that would ban procuring oil to restock the Strategic Oil Reserve, one supported by even Ocasio-Cortez, and an amendment that would shut down oil and gas production on federal lands, one opposed by Progressive Caucus Democrat Chris Deluzio (R-PA).

When it comes to Virginia’s congressional delegation, Republicans work across the aisle more frequently than Democrats, according to another report from the Institute for Legislative Analysis. Republican Rep. Jennifer Kiggans broke with President Donald Trump 45% of the time, and every Republican included in the tally broke with him at least 20% of the time, while no Democrat voted with the president more than 8% of the time.