Pollster John Zogby is speaking now at the opening session of the Association of Washington Business Policy Summit. http://www.awb.org/events/policysummit/index.asp
He's outlining what he says is the mood of America. And it's not pretty.

"There is a foul and ugly mood in the country today and one of those reasons is that people are anti-institutional right now. All that burst of goodwill after 9/11 has dissipated and after Katrina has hardened. And what we are living in the midst of today is that many Americans do not believe that anyone has a solution."

Zogby says Katrina will turn out to be as much a defining moment in American history as 9/11. "What happened with Katrina," he said, "is that all of the endemic problems within our federal system were laid bare."

MORE: Zogby says that by next year, Republicans could be seen as the "peace party." President Bush has announced the first round of troops will come home next spring, with maybe the second coming soon before the Republican National Convention.

"And guess what? Voters get the message that the Republicans can do something that the Democrats can't ..."

He says that Democrats are in a tough spot because their base is pushing for a quick withdrawal. But, he said, "there is no clarity coming from the leadership. There are multiple plans."

"And meanwhile, believe it or not, almost in an Alice in Wonderland situation, the president who has led us into a war that is intractable, where there are no good solutions, at least is coming out with a plan. At least is coming out with some clarity. ... And Democrats are saying to the base, 'We can't give you what you want.'"

MORE: Zogby is going through his thoughts on the presidential candidates. But I think what is more important is what he sees as the major change in America since 2004. In 2004 voters were quick to make up their minds. In March of that year Zogby said it was stunning to him to find that the undecideds were only at about five percent when history would show that number is usually between 15 and 20 percent.

"The center was gone. Americans had found themselves in two warring camps, mainly over cultural issues, mainly over the war in Iraq. ...The polarization in the country was gripping and the center was missing."

And now, he said:

"The center is indeed reborn in American politics today, at least it is among the general public."

The "hyper-polarization" is gone, he said, except for inside the Beltway. There, arch partisanship still goes strong. That will create "two parallel universes between now and election day."