A closely divided electorate.(Opinion Pulse)(Brief Article)

When the Gallup Organization combined more than 40,000 interviews conducted in 2003, the pollsters found the country equally divided between Republicans and Democrats, 45.5 to 45.2 percent. Harris Interactive's decade-by-decade analysis of party identification shows an enormous change in the country on this dimension. In Harris's data, the Democrats had a 21 percentage point lead over the Republicans in party identification in the 1970s. In the 1980s, it had dropped to 11 points, and in the 1990s, 7 points. Interestingly, ideological identification hasn't changed since the '70s. About a third of Americans consider themselves conservatives, 18 percent liberals, and 40 percent, moderates.

 
Question: In politics, as of today, do you ...? 
 
2003 
 
Consider myself a Republican   45.5% 
Independent/no affiliation      9.3% 
A Democrat                     45.2% 
 
Note: The data here combine 41,048 
interviews Gallup did by telephone in 2003. 
  ...