NC 10: Bush Approval and Party ID

Month	Bush Approval	Democratic ID	Republican ID	Independent
August 2007	47	34	54	13
December 2007	43	37	51	12
June 2008	34	40	44	16

PPP has conducted three surveys in the 10th Congressional District since last summer and over the course of them has seen a direct relationship between President Bush's approval rating and the percentage of voters in the district identifying themselves as Democrats- as Bush's popularity falls, Democratic party ID rises.

Last August 47% of voters in the district approved of Bush's job performance and 34% identified themselves as Democrats. Now his approval is down to 34% and the percentage of folks taking the Democratic label has increased to 40%.

Just since December there has been a 7% decline in Republican ID with a resultant four point increase in independents and three point increase in Democrats.

It should be noted that just because more voters are identifying themselves as Democrats doesn't necessarily mean they're planning to vote for the entire Democratic ticket. Just 59% of Democratic voters in our last poll said they would vote for Barack Obama and Bev Perdue, a percentage well below normal levels. It is a strong indication, however, of how damaged the Republican brand has become. If voters in the western Piedmont of North Carolina don't want to call themselves Republicans there aren't a whole lot of places where they will.