There's a new large survey,
Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007, out from the Pew Research Center. It shows attitudes in this country moving in the right direction:
Increased public support for the social safety net, signs of growing public concern about income inequality, and a diminished appetite for assertive national security policies have improved the political landscape for the Democrats as the 2008 presidential campaign gets underway.
At the same time, many of the key trends that nurtured the Republican resurgence in the mid-1990s have moderated, according to Pew's longitudinal measures of the public's basic political, social and economic values. The proportion of Americans who support traditional social values has edged downward since 1994, while the proportion of Americans expressing strong personal religious commitment also has declined modestly.
It's well worth skimming the entire report (and not just the press release) if you're looking for some mostly good news about where this country is headed.