Dems, Republicans, Independents By Race

Gallup has a report out today identifying the GOP as predominantly white, conservative, and religious. What's more notable than the "conservative" finding, however, is that 89 percent of Republicans in the survey were white--23 percent higher than the 65.6 percent* of the nation's total population that is white. There appears to be some discrepancy between Gallup's respondents and Census Bureau data, because both Democrats and independents registered as a higher percentage than their national totals in the Gallup survey: Democrats were 67 percent white, while Independents were 73 percent white.

To be gleaned from this report is that Republicans are comprised much more heavily by whites than the nation as a whole; Democrats and independents more accurately reflect national data for blacks and Hispanics, though not perfectly--here's how Gallup's groups break down nationally, to be compated to their chart:

White: 65.6%
Hispanic: 15.4%
Black: 12.2%
Other: 5.2%

*All national percentages in this post, other than those from Gallup's survey, are concluded from the Census Bureau's 2008 estimates--separating Hispanics as a racial classification and counting those identified as belonging to two or more racial groups as their own subgroup.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/06/dems-republicans-independents-by-race/18588/