Party Image And Unity Favors The Democrats In 2016

The charts are from a new Pew Research Center survey -- done between March 17th and 27th of a random national sample of 2,254 adults (and 1,787 registered voters). The margins of error are 2.4 points and 2.6 points.

Both charts should make Democrats smile. They show that 54% of the public thinks the Republican Party is too extreme, while only 37% say that of Democrat -- a 17 point advantage. About 65% say the Democratic Party is more tolerant and open to all groups, while only 32% say that of Republicans -- a 33 point advantage. About 61% says the Democratic Party cares about the middle class, while only 43% say that about Republicans -- an 18 point advantage. And 53% say the Democratic Party has good p[olicy ideas, while only 45% say that about Republicans -- an 8 point advantage.

And these are basically the same numbers that Pew found back in October of 2015 (six months ago). That means the Republicans have not been able to cut into the Democrats' image advantage.

The second chart shows that 64% of Democrats believe that their party will unite once Hillary Clinton becomes the official nominee -- but only 38% of Republicans think their party will unite behind Donald Trump.