The Beauty Of The Blues

Swimming Freestyle:

Gallup poll on the new GOP

Conventional wisdom is the Republican Party, at least from a majority standpoint, is now dominant in the Southeast. The new Gallup poll of party affiliation by state blows that theory to bits. The data suggests that Democrats have lost a bit of ground since the 2008 general election, but Republicans appear to have lost more. Most of the lost Republicans now identify themselves as Independents and the new party affiliations have had an striking effect on the electoral map.

The Gallup summary:

Since Obama was inaugurated, not much has changed in the political party landscape at the state level -- the Democratic Party continues to hold a solid advantage in party identification in most states and in the nation as a whole. While the size of the Democratic advantage at the national level shrunk in recent months, this has been due to an increase in independent identification rather than an increase in Republican support. That finding is echoed here given that the total number of solid and leaning Republican states remains unchanged from last year. While the Republican Party is still able to compete in elections if they enjoy greater turnout from their supporters or greater support for its candidates from independent voters, the deck is clearly stacked in the Democratic Party's favor for now.

The one thing the four Republican aligned states have in common? Small populations. Not exactly a great position heading into an election.