Poll: Number Of Americans Identifying As 'Independents' Hits Record High
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A record number of Americans are identifying politically as "Independents"…and a record low number say they're Republicans.
That's the latest from a new Gallup poll, which reveals 42% of Americans now label themselves Independents.
On the other hand, just 25% say they're Republicans – the lowest percentage since 1983.
Gallup says that identification with the Republican party was at an all-time high at 34% in 2004, when George W. Bush earned a second term in office. Since then, it's fallen drastically, mainly over the course of Bush's second term.
Democrats, meanwhile, aren't immune to a drop in identification either. The number of those who say they skew left fell five points from a recent high of 36% in 2008, the year President Obama was elected.
According to Gallup, the results of the latest poll are based on 18,000 interviews from 13 separate Gallup multiple-day polls conducted in 2013.
To see the poll, click here.