Gallup: Democratic states harder to find
By Bernie Becker - 02/21/11 04:37 PM ET
The number of solidly Democratic states has fallen dramatically since 2008 and every state has seen a decline in the number of residents who identify more with the Democratic Party, a new survey has found.
Gallup found that 14 states could be considered solidly Democratic in 2010, down from 30 in 2008. Over that time span, vastly more states also gained the label of competitive -- with 18 states now holding that designation, up from 10 in 2008.
Still, even with the Democratic decline, Gallup found more than twice as many states could be considered to either lean or be solidly Democratic (23) than Republican (10).
“Thus, while the losses have clearly hurt the party's positioning compared with what it was as President Barack Obama was taking office, its strength is generally back to where it was in the mid-2000s, before a series of events including the Iraq war, high gas prices, and the recession eroded public confidence in George W. Bush and the Republican Party,” the polling company said.
The results come as President Obama is gearing up for his re-election campaign, while a slew of Republicans are either moving toward or considering a presidential bid.
The Gallup survey also found that, between 2008 and 2010, every state and Washington, D.C., showed a drop in the number of residents who called themselves Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents. The three states with the sharpest decline in the category were all in New England (Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine). In large part, states not considered especially Democratic (North Dakota and Mississippi, for instance) showed the least amount of change.
Gallup said its results were based on its daily tracking efforts and that it had interviewed at least 1,000 adults in 49 states in 2010, missing that threshold in North Dakota and Washington, D.C.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/145395-gallup-democratic-states-harder-to-findLink to the Gallup article:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/146234/Number-Solidly-Democratic-States-Cut-Half.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=plaintextlink&utm_term=PoliticsLooks like that far-left agenda is falling flat on its face.
