Are Republicans the permanent minority party?

Startling numbers from the Pew Research Center about the decline of the Republican Party.

Among registered voters, just 28 percent identify themselves as Republicans, a decline of 5 points since 2004 and only 1 point above a record low level of Republican self-identification in 16 years of polling by the Pew Research Center.

The survey found 38 percent of registered voters identified as Democrats and 34 percent identified as independents.

Among the 28 percent of voters who now identify as Republican or Republican-leaning, 68 percent identify themselves as conservative.

In other words, the RINOs have fled the party.

Pew also found that among conservatives, three-quarters think the party should turn further to the right.

"While a majority of moderates and liberals within the party advocate a centrist approach (66%), they make up fewer than a third (31%) of Republican voters overall," the Pew Research Center says. "As a result, 60% of all Republican voters support a more conservative direction for the party."

The decline of the GOP can be seen in comparing 2008 party identification with numbers in 2004.

From Pew:

In 2004, the balance of party affiliation was far more closely divided: 35% of voters called themselves Democrats, 33% Republicans, and 32% independents.

Read more from the Pew party identification survey at the center's Web site.