GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans find it easier to describe what they don't like about the Republican and Democratic parties than to identify what they do like. That is in part because partisans on both sides can't bear to say anything positive about the opposing party. As for those negative perceptions, close to half of Americans either disparage the Republican party for the leadership of President George W. Bush and the Republican Congress, or denounce it for siding with the rich and powerful. The most often cited criticisms of the Democratic Party are that it is too liberal, and that its leadership is weak, ineffective, or vacant of ideas.

These findings come from the latest Gallup Poll Panel survey, conducted September 21-24, 2006, which asked respondents four open-ended questions about the parties: 1) What do you like about the Democratic Party? 2) What do you dislike about the Democratic Party? 3) What do you like about the Republican Party? 4) What do you dislike about the Republican Party? The survey was conducted just prior to the eruption of the scandal involving former Republican Representative Mark Foley's personal email contact with House pages, which started about a week ago.

Positive perceptions of the two parties are mostly driven by the attitudes of people identifying with each party; the vast majority of Republicans don't have anything positive to say about the Democrats and vice versa. By contrast, a majority of Republicans and Democrats are willing to offer critiques of their own party as well as of the opposing party.

The results show that frustration with one's own party's leadership is common on both sides of the political aisle. Despite the prominence of the Iraq war and the fight against terrorism, the parties' positions on these are barely mentioned as primary factors for liking or disliking each party. As of late September, only a small handful of Americans mentioned corruption as a primary reason why they don't like either the Republican Party (7%) or Democratic Party (4%).

Democrats Identified With Representing Average Person

Overall, 41% of Americans can't name anything they like about the Democratic Party. This includes 21% of Democrats in addition to the overwhelming majority of Republicans (63%). However, leading the list of perceived Democratic attributes among the remainder of respondents is the party's association with "the little guy." Altogether, 17% of Americans mention the Democrats' support of the middle class, the working class, average Americans, or the poor and homeless as the reason for their liking the party. This sentiment is particularly prevalent among Democrats (27%), compared with only 6% of Republicans.

Additionally, 7% of Americans commend the Democratic leadership such as calling the leaders "honest" or saying they are "doing a good job." Four percent of Americans mention social issues, either generally or specifically (for example, abortion). Economic-related issues or the perception that the party is "liberal" are each mentioned by 3% to 4% of respondents. Only 1% of Americans specifically mention the Democrats' position on Iraq as a reason for liking the party.

Weak Leadership a Pervasive Critique of Democrats

Negative critiques of the Democrats are dominated by the sentiment that the leadership of the party is ineffectual. This is expressed in a variety of ways by close to half the public (46%), including the statements that the party is "wishy-washy," has no clear ideas or solutions, doesn't oppose Bush, and "can't win elections."

Democrats are even more likely than Republicans (51% vs. 43%) to offer this criticism of the Democratic Party -- clearly an expression of frustration with their party's leadership and minority status in Washington D.C.

Poor leadership is the only substantial criticism mentioned by Democrats, whereas among Republicans relatively large numbers say the Democratic Party is too liberal (18%), or cites the Democratic Party's positions on moral and social issues (9%) or economic issues (8%) as a reason why they dislike it.

Diverse Factors Explain Positive Perceptions of GOP

Seven in ten Democrats, as well as 19% of Republicans, can't name anything they like about the Republican Party. Among the remainder, a variety of reasons are mentioned with no overriding perception leading the list. The top two mentions are the general platform of the Republican Party (9%) and the perception that the party is conservative (9%). These two sentiments also lead the list of positive factors named by Republicans (16% for each).

Additionally, 8% of Americans (11% of Republicans) mention the leadership of the Republican Party, including that it is "honest," "straightforward," "takes strong stance," "is more efficient," and that they like certain Republican leaders. The public mentions a variety of other specific issues, ranging from Iraq (1%) to national defense/terrorism (6%), to moral issues (7%) and economic issues (7%).

Criticism of Leadership is Lead Negative for GOP

The primary knock on the GOP is its poor leadership -- including not liking the leadership of Congress, that it is "too political," "slow to get things done," doesn't take a strong stand for what it believes in, always goes along with Bush's views, and is "too arrogant." Republicans and Democrats are about equally likely to name something that falls into this class of criticisms. Additionally a large proportion of Democrats (27%) say they dislike the GOP because it favors the interests of the rich or big business, catapulting this response to No. 2 among national adults.

Survey Methods

Results for this panel study are based on telephone interviews with1,010 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted September 21-24, 2006. Respondents were randomly drawn from Gallup's nationally representative household panel, which was originally recruited through random selection methods. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.

3. Please tell me what you like about the Democratic Party [OPEN-ENDED]:

4. Please tell me what you dislike about the Democratic Party [OPEN-ENDED]:

5. Please tell me what you like about the Republican Party [OPEN-ENDED]:

6. Please tell me what you dislike about the Republican Party [OPEN-ENDED]: