What is more common Democrat or Republican?

Answer 1

In the U.S. as of November 2012 there are more Republicans. About 50-60 million people are registered as Republicans. About 35-45 million people are registered as Democrats. Though Republicans lost the presidential race this year they have a huge majority among elected officials in our government controlling the House of Representatives. Having a 32-18 majority among elected governors and controlling over 2/3 of our states' legislatures.

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While there may be more Republicans in some political positions as noted above, it is not true in all positions, with Democrats as the majority in the Senate and, of course, Democrats won the Presidency. The more important numbers may be (or should be) that more VOTERS are Democrats than Republicans (which might explain current initiatives by Republicans to affect voter rights and opportunities with gerrymandering and Voter ID laws to prevent as many Democrats from voting).

According to information from an article by Jason Easley for PoliticusUSA (a liberal organization): America is Not a Conservative Nation: More Voters Identify as Democrats than Republicans.

This article says that in the most recent presidential election, 38 percent of voters called themselves Democrats, and just 32 percent called themselves Republicans. The article continues, "In 2008, it was Democrats at 39 percent and Republicans at 32 percent. Over the past five elections, only in 2004 were the two parties evenly matched at 37 percent each. In the other four elections, the Democratic advantage has been 4 points in 2000 when Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College, 5 points in 1996, 6 points in 2012, and 7 points in 2008. This is certainly one reason why Republicans have lost the popular vote in five of the past six elections; generally there are more Democrats than Republicans. When the gap gets really wide, independents can't make the difference."

The author writes that, "While 2013 isn't a golden age of liberalism, the popular rejection of the Republican/ conservative ideology in national elections dispels the notion that America is a conservative nation."

The majority of the nation is currently considered center/left. Republicans are considered by many to have pushed themselves off the right side of the cliff by going too far into the extreme fringe. Easely writes that, "By understanding that America isn't a conservative nation, Democrats have embraced moderates and moved them and the country to the left...Conservatives aren't 'losing' the country. The country is moving forward without them."