Party Strength Gets Bluer

When you create a brand new method at which to measure Democratic presidents like Republican pollster Scott Rasmussen did, it's easy to make the world around you full of good news for the GOP. Wonder what new method they will come up with to make Gallup's latest data fit their Fantasy World.

"The accompanying map shows each state's relative party strength (the full data for each state appears at the end of the article) in the first half of 2009, which primarily covers the time since Barack Obama took office as president. States in which one of the parties enjoys a 10 or more percentage point advantage in leaned identification are considered solid supporters of that party. States with between a five- and nine-point advantage are considered leaning toward that party, and states with less than a five-point advantage for one of the parties are considered competitive."


Polling data shows Democratic Party strength in 30 states and 4 for the GOP. Also, states considered solid Dem are much safer territory for the party than are solid Repub states for the GOP.

All in all, party strength is blue, real blue.