U.S. Becoming More Partisan Despite Attempts at Bipartisanship

Written by: Patrick Stansberry on Mar 2, 2009 8:29 PM EST

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New Rasmussen polls show the United States is becoming more and more partisan.

From Open Left...

With roughly 200,000 interviews a year, and with interviews conducted every single non-holiday, Rasmussen's yearly party identification totals are the best resource for partisan trends over the past five years. Here are there yearly totals:

Non-partisan self-identification, by year, from Rasmussen Reports

Year	Dem	Non	Rep
2009	40.9	26.1	33.1
2008	40.5	27.0	32.5
2007	36.9	31.0	32.1
2006	37.0	30.3	32.8
2005	36.9	28.1	35.0
2004	38.0	26.5	35.6

The data shows two unmistakable trends, which I discuss in the extended entry.
First, from 2005 to 2007, while the number of Democrats remained constant, the ranks of non-partisan identifiers swelled by 2.9, and the ranks of Republicans were depleted 2.9. During this time, the country was becoming less partisan and less Republican, but not less Democratic.

Second, in 2008, the country reverted back to partisan levels of 2004 and 2005. The number of non-partisan identifiers dropped 4.0, with 90% of the new partisan identifiers turning Democratic. So, the country became more partisan, more Democratic, and the number of Republicans remained constant.

Combine these two trends, and the results is that, since the start of 2005, the country is more Democratic, less Republican, and just as partisan as it ever was. So, what we have is not a post-, bi-, or non-partisan trend, but instead a decidedly Democratic trend. This is based on a poll, conducted daily for the past five years, and with a sample size of less than 0.2% (zero point two percent). Effectively, there is no way to argue against the trendlines shown in this data.

With the number of independents/no party declining in recent years, it's just another reason not to give into the so-called centrists.

It's time for bold policies and a clear vision for our future. If our elected officials lead, citizen activists put on the pressure, people will get on board.

Originally posted at Century of the Common Iowan.

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Location: IA