Democrats slipping but still supported

PRINCETON, N.J., July 11 (UPI) -- The Democratic Party's edge in party identification among U.S. voters slipped by four points in the second quarter, a Gallup poll indicated.

Gallup polled more than 5,000 U.S. adults in stand-alone polls and discovered 49 percent of those surveyed identified themselves as leaning toward Democratic and 40 percent as leaning toward Republican. The 9-point advantage is a drop-off from a 13-point gap during the first quarter.

Democratic support dropped by three points and Republican increased by one point.

The Gallup release said the figures include the leanings of independent voters. If independents are counted separately, 28 percent say they identify as Republican, 34 percent as Democratic and 37 percent as independent. The Republican numbers are unchanged from the first quarter of the year, the Democratic numbers are down one point and the independents are up two points.

The polling numbers come from five surveys of about 1,000 people each, conducted between April and June, the release said. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 1 percentage point.