The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. is illuminated during the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020 (RNC video screenshot)
More Americans identify with the Republican Party than the Democratic Party for the first time since 2004, according to a Gallup survey.
The poll found 28% consider themselves Republicans and 27% Democrats.
A plurality of 42% identify as independent.
Earlier this month, a Gallup poll found 56% of Americans consider themselves better off now than they were four years ago before President Trump took office.
In its survey of party affiliation, Gallup found that at the time of the party conventions last summer, the GOP was trailing the Democratic Party.
At that time, the Democrats' advantage was 6 points, down from the 11 points in June.
In 1992, the Democrats had a 10-point lead, in 1996 it was 11 points, in 2000 it was 11 points, in 2008 it was eight points, but in 2016 it was down to 3 points.
In September, the Democrats's advantage was just 3 points after being up by 11 in June.
The sharp changes in June, Gallup said, came amid nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd in police custody. President Trump's job approval rating fell 10 points from early May to early June, Gallup said, attributing the decline to criticism of his reponse to the protests.
"While protest activity has continued in the past two months, it has been on a smaller scale," Gallup said. "Possibly as a result, fewer Americans in August (10%) than in June (19%) say race relations or racism is the most important problem facing the country. Over the same time, Trump's approval rating has improved modestly to 42%."
Gallup said the "strong Democratic tilt in the U.S. population observed in June proved to be short-lived, perhaps indicating the presumed Democratic wave may not be as strong as expected."
The Gallup survey finding 56% say they are better off today than four years ago is significantly higher than when Ronald Reagan posed the question as he sought reelection in 1984.
A Gallup poll at that time found 44% of Americans said yes to the question, and Reagan went on to a 49-state landslide.
President Trump reacted to the poll via Twitter.
"The Gallup Poll has just come out with the incredible finding that 56% of you say that you are better off today, during a pandemic, than you were four years ago (OBiden)," he wrote. "Highest number on record! Pretty amazing!"
Gallup noted that when Barack Obama sought reelection in 2012, 45% said they were better off, and Obama went on to victory.
In 2004, George W. Bush won reelection after 47% in October said the same.
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