Resurgent Republic Blog
For the first time since 2005 less than a majority of Americans identified as a Democrat according to the yearly Gallup average. As the mid-term elections approach a struggling economy and unpopular health care legislation will not reverse this trend. In 2009 record Federal spending deficits and government intervention into the economy caused Independent voters to look more like Republicans. These policies appear to have also weakened Democratic support.
Gallup breaks down the party identification percentages by quarter providing an interesting timeline. As each quarter progressed in 2009 the Democratic advantage weakened.
During this time the national debate was largely dominated by record Federal spending and deficits rising unemployment and widely unpopular health care legislation.
Resurgent Republic polling also showed a political shift on national security issues such as enhanced interrogation techniques and the debate over Guantanamo Bay.
By the fourth quarter of 2009 47.2 percent indentified as Democrats (down 4.5 points since the first quarter) and 42.2 percent indentified as Republicans (up 3.5 points since the first quarter).
Gallup concludes that the gains the Democratic Party made in public support during the last several years of the George W. Bush administration have disappeared."
Should Senator Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi succeed in passing unpopular health care legislation and propose more economic policies void of job creation it is likely that Democratic support will continue to weaken.
