A second measure of party support — which adds independents who say they “lean” toward one party or the other into that party’s total — also shows 2008 to have been a banner year for the Democratic Party. Last year, 52% of Americans identified as Democrats or said they leaned to the Democratic Party, compared with 40% who identified with or leaned to the Republican Party. That is the best showing for the Democrats — in terms of both the percentage of Democratic supporters and their advantage over Republicans — since Gallup began regularly tracking this measure of party support in 1991.