Check out the comments.Some Pew poll analysis suggesting that Obama is an unusually partisan figure -- with sky-high approval from Democrats, and historically low support from Republicans -- drew some attention here and elsewhere yesterday.
Nate Silver offers an alternative explanation for his bad Republican numbers:
The Republicans, in particular, have lost quite a bit of support over the past several years; those persons who continue to identify as Republicans are a hardened -- and very conservative -- lot. Just 24 percent of voters identified as Republican when Pew conducted this survey in March, which is roughly as low as that total has ever gotten.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/Partisan_divide_or_shrinking_GOP.html