GOP Losing Ground in Party-Affiliation Polling

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

Analysis by Charlie Cook on MSNBC.com

WASHINGTON — Last month I wrote a column suggesting that "the Republican brand" had been damaged over the last year, and I quoted several Republicans who agreed with that proposition.

The Iraq war had certainly taken a toll on the GOP's image, as had various scandals and a general dissatisfaction with Congress and Washington, which has been under total Republican control for five of the last six years.

...

Interesting Point buried further in the article: More people identify themself as Independent that as Republican. They are a true minority party, ranking behind "No Preference."

Even better is the "Leans Toward" category among the Independents. A slim majority of Independents lean Democratic, with only 40% leaning Republican and 10% expressing no preference. According to Cook a substantial number lf "Leaners" are really partisan, but prefer to self-identify as Independent.

Link

[DeepModem Mom]

1. Fascinating! Thanks for posting, Jeff! nt

[AndyA]

2. It would seem a lot of the GOP's flock is ashamed to be identified these days.

Can't say I blame them. I'm embarrassed for them.

I'm not sure if they're brainwashed, evil, naive, or too stupid to breathe. But they fall into one of those categories.

I'm proud to be identified as a member of the Democratic Party. :thumbsup:

[ray of light]

3. Can I be honest?

I don't think this is true because I think the Republicans are just more ashamed to admit that they're Republicans so instead they say that they're independent. However, when pushing the secret ballot, they vote their history.

And many people claim to be Republican but they don't even realize what it means. They simply know their parents were Republican. Or they've been tricked into believing that there's something wrong with 'liberals'.

My point...they're simply underground now. But they're not gone.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

4. No Honestly Allowed!!!

Kidding...

2008 is going to be interesting. The historical data presented by this article closely jibes with the political events on the ground. Republican and Democrats were almost dead even in party affiliation in 2000, then the Republicans moved ahead in 2002 but lost most of their advantage by 2004. The Democrats regained their advantage in 2006. That basically mirrors electoral results.

Is it predictive? One can only hope.