Americans Are Waking Up from Their Slumber

Fewer Americans Describe Themselves as Democrats

February 22, 2011

The Ticket - A new Gallup Poll finds fewer Americans self-identify as Democrats today than did in 2008. That's potentially bad news for President Obama's 2012 re-election bid, as many of the declines occurred in states he carried in 2008.

According to Gallup, in 2010 every state and the District of Columbia had fewer residents describing themselves as Democrats or identifying as independent voters who leaned Democratic. Some of the biggest declines occurred in swing states that helped Obama claim the presidency in 2008, including Nevada, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Colorado and Indiana.

According to Gallup, a total of 12 states--including Tennessee, Virginia and Missouri--that were "solidly" or leaned Democratic in 2008 have now shifted to "competitive." At the same time, no states have moved in a more Democratic direction in the last three years.

In New Hampshire, a state Obama carried in '08, the number of voters identifying as Democrats dipped more than 11 percent--a turnover second only to Rhode Island, where Democratic identification declined just over 12 points.

But as Gallup notes, voters aren't exactly rushing to the GOP either. Rather, there are simply more competitive states ahead of 2012. And the news isn't entirely bad for Obama's party. According to Gallup, Democratic states still outnumbered Republican states by 23 to 10 in 2010, and there were 14 solidly Democratic states compared with 5 solidly GOP states.