Story Highlights
- Preferences shifted from nine-point Democratic advantage to five-point GOP edge
- Average party preferences for all of 2021 similar to past years
- Largest percentage of U.S. adults identify as political independents
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On average, Americans’ political party preferences in 2021 looked similar to prior years, with slightly more U.S. adults identifying as Democrats or leaning Democratic (46%) than identified as Republicans or leaned Republican (43%).
However, the general stability for the full-year average obscures a dramatic shift over the course of 2021, from a nine-percentage-point Democratic advantage in the first quarter to a rare five-point Republican edge in the fourth quarter.
These results are based on aggregated data from all U.S. Gallup telephone surveys in 2021, which included interviews with more than 12,000 randomly sampled U.S. adults.
Gallup asks all Americans it interviews whether they identify politically as a Republican, a Democrat or an independent. Independents are then asked whether they lean more toward the Republican or Democratic Party. The combined percentage of party identifiers and leaners gives a measure of the relative strength of the two parties politically.
Both […]
Both parties are a disaster. Republicans gave us Trump, and Democrats gave us Biden/Harris. Tweedledee and Tweedledum!
Analyst Nate Silver of 538 found that found that Gallup’s results were the least accurate of the 23 major polling firms Silver analyzed, having the highest incorrect average of being 7.2 points away from the final result. As always, it’s who is looking and who you trust. Personally, I believe the shift, the unrest and the mistrust of both parties continues to gain traction. Basically America and Americans are unsettled. Quick to judge as they’re looking thru the lens of fear which can be very shaky and highly unproductive. Fear distorts one’s vision.
Sam’s comment is right about fear. We should not have fear dictate what we believe. Personally, I believe we could do much better if we could get rid of the Republicans and their inequality style neo-liberalism. A social-democracy like that of Bernie Sanders would be a more equitable form of government.