AP Poll Sample Skews to Dems by 17 points

By Jim Geraghty

Wow! The AP poll has Obama's approval rating hitting 60 percent! And 53 percent say he deserves to be reelected!

And on the economy, 52 percent approve of the way Obama's handling it, and only 47 percent disapprove! He's up 54-46 on approval of how he's handling health care! On unemployment, 52 percent approval, 47 percent disapproval! 57 percent approval on handling Libya! Even on the deficit, he's at 47 percent approval, 52 percent disapproval!

But then you get to the party ID: 46 percent identify as Democrat or leaning Democrat, 29 percent identify as Republican or leaning Republican, 4 percent identify as purely independent leaning towards neither party, and 20 percent answered, "I don't know."

For contrast, the AP's immediate preceding poll was 45 percent Democrat, 33 percent Republican; the likely-voter pool in October 2010 was 43 percent Democrat, 48 percent Republican. The poll's total sample in October 2010 split 43 percent Democrat, 40 percent Republican.