A new Rasmussan poll indicates that the percentage of Americans identifying themselves as Democrats has gone down to 36% (a shift of minus-five since the beginning of 2009). Two percent of that drop has been this November alone. The percentage calling themselves Republicans has gone up to 33.1%, an increase of 1.2% in November, although there has been less growth in general in the Republican Party during the past year.

What has made up the difference is an increase in the number of Independents. That’s hardly surprising; disaffection with both parties is high. I’m an Independent myself, and likely to remain so in the foreseeable future. I don’t really think I could affiliate with a party again, except for the narrow purpose of voting in a primary.

So, are pollsters going to re-adjust their samplings of Democrats vs. Republicans accordingly when they do surveys? That’s one of the most difficult aspects of polls anyway—getting the proper proportions of respondents—and under- or over-representing certain groups is one of the easiest ways to skew things.