Obama New Popularity Causes Democratic Party Affiliation To Surge

According to a new Gallup poll more Americans consider themselves Democrats than at any point since October 2009, when asked 45% called themselves Democrats and 39% Republicans.

Gallup didn’t just ask respondents whether they considered themselves to be Democrats or Republicans. They also asked Independents which way they lean. The party identification measure has been trending back towards the Democrats in 2011, but a six point spread the highest since December of 2008 when the margin was 19 points.

The pollster credited Obama’s increased popularity for the swing and pointed to a historical trend to back up their conclusion,

Historical Gallup trends indicate party affiliation often shifts when presidents are very popular or unpopular. For example, Republicans gained an advantage in 1991 after George H.W. Bush’s approval ratings soared during and after the Persian Gulf War. Democrats expanded their advantage in party affiliation in the late 1990s during the latter part of Bill Clinton’s presidency, when the economy was booming and Clinton’s approval ratings routinely topped 60%. Between 2005 and 2008, the Democrats built up a large advantage as George W. Bush’s approval ratings suffered due to the Iraq war and later to record-high gas prices and a poor economy.
http://www.politicususa.com/en/obama-party-affiliation?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=P2Blogs&utm_content=Twitter

maybe there is some kind of symbiotic benefit Obama and the Democratic Party are enjoying today, but I think it's more like a stark binary choice people are making. Support Republicanism at the risk of your own personal destruction. Any alternative looks better than this choice.

ever thought of that? I'm so sick of this "lesser of two evils" crap.

You can check my posting history and you'll never see anything from me on bashing Obama/Democrats. On the whole, I'm delighted he's POTUS. Furthermore, I'm of the belief that, if he had an overwhelming majority of Progressives in Congress, he'd be playing offense instead of defense. I don't blame him for the 2010 results...I blame the idiotic voters who voted to allow the party of No to regain the house and stalemate the Senate.

My only point is that the polling seems to be linking Obama's favorabilities as to why the Democratic party is gaining traction with the voter. I can't really point to any legislation that justifies this and I've been disappointed with their inability to get progressive legislation passed. I think what's turning the voter is the systematic execution of the republican plan to gut the middle-class. That's what creating the polling dynamic.