The Number: 49% — Democratic Party favorability
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The Democratic Party has seen a sharp fall in favorability in 2009. While the Democratic Party is still seen more positively than the GOP (40% favorability), its favorability rating has fallen to 49%, down from 62% in January. The fall in opinion is especially large among political independents. Only 40% of independents give a favorable rating to the Democratic Party, down 12 points since April. The decline now puts the Democrats on par with the GOP among non-affiliated Americans. A sharp decline in favorability of the Democratic Party has also occurred among those with a college education, families with incomes less than $30,000 and those ages 30 to 49.