Obama’s “Strongly Approve” Steady at 36%, Democrat Party Affiliation lowest since 2007

Pelosi, Reid and Obama - photo: newt.org

Rasmussen Reports trends on Party Affiliation show a drop of party identity for Democrats of 2 percentage points, while Republican’s lost a half-point in party identity. Democrats continue to have an advantage of 5 points, however, with the President’s “strongly approves” remaining in the 30’s, one can expect that percentage to decline. Add to this a Pew Research report indicating that Obama is enjoying the most politically polarized division in job performance approval since 1969, eclipsing George W. Bush by 10 points overall.

Obama with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd photo: zimbio

Where are all the Democrats and Republican’s going? There has been an increase of 28% in unenrolled affiliation since the last election, during the previous year, the number of unenrolleds was at 30%, some of those shifting over to Democrat affiliation during the last election. (Rasmussen).
This is rise in unenrolleds can be correlated to the rise in partisanship in Congress and the Senate since the Democrats gained the majority in 2006. In the period leading up to the 2008 general election, the blame could be placed on the Bush administration, however, now it is apparent that, as the trend has continued unabated through such high-profile Democrats as Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and, most notably, Barney Frank (”Republican’s suffer from psychological disorder”), the disenfranchised of both parties is growing, lending to the increase in unenrolleds. That aside, the consistent gaffes by the current administration, is a contributing factor.

Unless and until this 8th grade mentality that appears to have stricken the Democrat Party leaders in the Congress and Senate abates, and should the President take a hard look at the numbers from the Carter administration, expect this trend to continue.