Why Polls Still Show Democrats With Higher Marks Than Republicans

By Stuart Rothenberg, Roll Call, Posted at 3:03 p.m. on March 10

Political brands are important. If a candidate or political party has a damaged political brand, it’s harder for them to sell themselves to voters. But sometimes a poll’s top lines can be deceiving, so you need to look a little below the surface to understand what is going on.

Everyone knows that the Republican Party’s brand stinks, and while the Democratic brand is still mediocre, it’s measurably better than the GOP’s.

A Feb. 19-23 CBS News/New York Times poll found that only 33 percent of respondents had a favorable view of the Republican Party, while a stunning 61 percent had an unfavorable view. In contrast, 42 percent of respondents had a favorable view of the Democratic Party, while only 53 percent had an unfavorable view.

So the Democratic brand was about 10 points better than the GOP’s in the CBS News/New York Times survey.

(More here.)