Poll: GOP losses big in many demographics

PRINCETON, N.J., May 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. Republican Party is hemorrhaging members in nearly all demographic subgroups, a study of Gallup Poll results released Tuesday indicates.

Since the first year of former President George W. Bush's first term, the Republican Party has maintained its support only among frequent churchgoers, conservatives and senior citizens, where membership decline is minimal, Gallup said.

Aggregated Gallup Poll data indicate the chasm between "leaning toward" party identification is 53 percent for Democrats and 39 percent for Republicans. Respondents who identified with a political party indicated 36 percent identified themselves as Democrats, while 37 percent said they were independents and 27 percent said they were Republicans.

The GOP losses were substantial among college graduates, with aggregate results showing a decline of 10 percentage points, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said. In general, Gallup said the GOP lost followers in subgroups in which it wasn't strong initially.

The GOP generally avoided huge losses among its most loyal groups, including frequent churchgoers and self-identified conservatives, Gallup said.

Results are based on telephone interviews with 7,139 adults in polls conducted January-April 2009. The margin of error is 1 percentage point.