The work ahead for Howard Dean

Published February 7, 2005 3:56PM (EST)

As Howard Dean prepares to take over the Democratic National Committee -- Donnie Fowler and Simon Rosenberg pulled out of the race over the weekend -- Stan Greenberg and James Carville are out with a new Democracy Corps memo on perceptions of the Democratic Party. The most troubling news: Democrats have seen their popularity plummet among . . . Democrats.

Republicans are "viewed more favorably overall than the Democrats, led by a crash of positive sentiment for the Democratic Party among voters who identify as Democrats," Greenberg and Carville write. "Republican voters look at the parties today much as they did before the election; among independents, regard for the Democrats dropped somewhat, though independents still prefer them to the Republicans. Democratic voters are another story: 'warm' feelings for the Democrats dropped 12 points (from 86 to 74 percent) since the election. It is the Democrats who are demanding something more, perhaps a reckoning."

The Democracy Corps memo is available here.


By Tim Grieve

Tim Grieve is a senior writer and the author of Salon's War Room blog.

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