Every month, the Gallup Organization releases a poll, asking voters if they identify as Republicans, as Democrats, or as others. If they respond “other”, they are asked if they lean toward either the Democratic or the Republican Party. Here are the August results: Democrats 34%, leading to the Democratic Party, 11%, Republicans 28%, leaning Republican 12%, other 15%.
The “Other” figure was at 13% in January and February, at 14% in March, May and June, and at 15% in the other months of 2009. Thanks to PoliticalWire for this news.
Zogby recently did a poll on support for more than two major parties. See here.
As usual, more than 50% say they want a third major party. The part I haven’t seen before is figures for some demographic groups and political positions. These are mostly not surprising, except perhaps the fact that support is very widespread. The lowest percentage of any group mentioned was 45% (among blacks).
Amazing how Gallup didn’t even name any of the 3rd Parties represented by other 15%. Do you think they are part of the Duopoly.
Pingback: New Gallup Poll on Party Identification | Independent Political Report
Richard Kuszmar, it’s likely that most of that 15% are people who refused to name any party at all and/or described themselves as “independents” even after being asked whether they “lean” Democrat or “lean” Republican.
Saying the fix to a “duopoly” is a successful third party is akin to saying that the fix to violence in the Middle East is to simply “stop the violence.”
Let’s assume a third party were to grow with astonishing success – more rapidly than any other third party we’ve seen in the past. Let’s further assume that it gathers equal popular support in all 50 states and D.C. And let’s also assume that all the barriers third parties now face which are discussed in this space – all real – are made magically to disappear overnight and that this third party has equal access to all ballots everywhere.
What would be the consequence of that?
Well, without money to finance their campaigns, not much. But let’s also assume that their candidates were to be elected without tapping the bottomless American well of corporate funding (yeah…right), what would happen next when the desire for reelection looms? How would third party incumbents respond to a well-bankrolled challenger? By going directly to the people…with empty pockets?
Really?
And while in office, would they behave virtuously, somehow insulated from the insidious pressures of corporate lobbyists?
Are you kidding?
Please. It’s a pipe dream.
The “duoploy” is not the problem. It’s a symptom. The real problem which pollutes the political system in this country is a purposeful, syetematic lack of any control of the effects of moneyed influence on politicians – of ANY stripe…blue, red or (if they were to take a significant number of seats in any legislature) green.
Tragically, getting real campaign finance reform through at any level of government would be like trying to get the UN Security Council permanent members to give up their veto power.
It just ain’t gonna happen.
Even in this Gallup poll, the raw count of people who consider themselves independents *before* being push-polled into R & D is 38% — higher than either Rs or Ds.