Poll: Dems again edge GOP in party affiliation

More Americans identify themselves as Democrats than Republicans, according to a new Gallup poll.

47 percent of respondents told Gallup they are Democrats or that they lean Democratic, while only 42 percent said they are Republicans or lean Republican.

Democrats have led Republicans for much of the last two decades in party affiliation, but Republicans have briefly closed the gap several times, including the beginning of former President George W. Bush's first term and the period surrounding the 2010 midterm elections, when Democrats and Republicans were virtually tied at 45 percent.

The high watermark of Democrats' dominance, according to past Gallup data, occurred around 2008, when a rough-and-tumble primary between then-Sen. Hillary Clinton and then-Sen. Barack Obama electrified the Democratic base and swelled party registration numbers. At that time, Democrats held a 52 to 40 percent advantage over Republicans in party affiliation.

The data also reveal that a record number of Americans - 40 percent - do not officially identify with either party. So while the party identification numbers are undoubtedly good news for Democrats and bad news for a GOP struggling to refashion itself in the wake of a 2012 defeat, voters seem more inclined than ever to cast a pox on both their houses.

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Gallup's poll surveyed 20,800 adults nationwide between January and December of 2012 and had a margin of error of plus or minus one percent.

[16sunovadun]

Predicting complete denial and accusing the "liberal media" of totally fabricating these numbers. Guaranteed. Never fails. Funny as all get out too.

[Protect_US_Jobs]

Wouldn't it be More Productive if Our Elected Leaders Started Working Together as AMERICANS for AMERICANS and AMERICA, instead of just bickering, stalling and posturing for the next election as democrats and republicans! The American People have had it with this unproductive BS! The way that both parties having been operating for years just stinks! Neither party has really been looking out for the best interests of the US Citizens who elect them and who they're supposed to represent.

Both parties have sold out the bulk of the American citizens, who they're supposed to represent, by allowing the "out-sourcing" floodgates to open wider and wider without taking any sensible measures to stem the tide.

It shouldn't be all about Democrats or Republicans! It should be about Americans, especially our elected officials, doing the right thing for our country and its citizens. All the single-minded, left versus right, ideological one dimensional bull has got to go!

Both parties need to start working together and actually start doing something to fix the real problems in our country like "out-sourcing", illegal immigration, the out of control costs of health care insurance and our reliance on foreign fuel. If they don't start working together and actually start making progress by the next election, then American citizens should run a nation-wide campaign to vote out all incumbents regardless of party to send the message.