POLL: Pew Party ID
Eric Dienstfrey | March 20, 2008
Analysis from the Pew Research Center shows 36% of registered voters nationwide identify themselves as Democrats and 27% as Republicans -- "the lowest percentage of self-identified Republican voters in 16 years of polling by the Center."
"Of the 37% who claim no party identification, 15% lean Democratic, 10% lean Republican, and 12% have no leaning either way."
Pew also looked at party identification among registered voters in "blue" states, "red" states, and "swing" states.
Full analysis here.
By Eric Dienstfrey | March 20, 2008 3:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)
Comments
@Andareed:
That's where strategy comes in. We (Dems) are a very strategic group of people. We have many strategies. Too bad we can't settle on one that works.
;-)
"The lowest percentage of self-identified Republican voters in 16 years of polling..."
This is in no way an insurmountable challenge for Democrats. If anyone can find a way to overcome this, we can. The only question I have is how far does the Republican ID number have to go to defeat our "A" game?
More proof that when people are hearing "McCain" in the match-up polls, they aren't thinking "Republican."
It's lucky for him that he was attacked as "not conservative enough" by his opponents in the primary.
Right now, the average numbers for the Democrats (about 43 to 46) are just under the combined "democratic" and "lean democratic" numbers. That gives me hope that they will increase a bit when the negative primary campaigning is over.
This also challenges the wisdom of McCain "appealing to the base." Perhaps he needs Republicans to turn out for him, but he may do better by working to hold onto his "independent" persona, if it maintains his support among those voters.
As a moderate Democrat, I'd like to vote for McCain, but can't because of the crazy evangelicals his party will make him drag in.
I'm pro-free trade and pro-personal responsibility but also believe strongly in investing in public education and public health to get there.
I was rooting for Schwartzenegger for the same reason in CA, but it turns out he will throw out progressive policies, such as gay marriage and squeal laws, in favor of remaining a power broker in his cigar tent in Sacramento.
So a McCain presidency will make him compromise all common sense until the Christian Taliban is finished distracting him with whatever screwball apocolyptic ideas they have. Not like they understand economics much, either.
Point is, it's nice to have a moderate running, but I'm going to have to put my vote in for Obama on this one because at least he is consistently taking the high road in this election, and if he continues to do so after he is voted in, we may be able to get somewhere.
It's interesting that in both 2000 and 2004, the Democrats had greater voter identification, and had more independents leaning towards being registered Democrats, and yet still lost both times.
Posted on March 20, 2008 5:21 PM