How Americans are viewing Democrats and Republicans

As we steam toward the election, pollsters are after new ways to peer into voters’ psyches. In this week’s Attitude Check, we check in with Gallup’s editor-in-chief, Frank Newport, about how Americans are viewing Republicans and Democrats on a couple of subjects.

First up: Which party can do a better job “keeping the country prosperous” —  a question recently asked.

Right now, the Democrats are beating the Republicans as the party best able to keep the country prosperous, 51-42 percent. It’s a turnaround from the last several years, and it could bode well for the Dems in the upcoming elections.

When it comes to the question: “which party do you think will do a better job protecting the country from international terrorism and military threats?”, the two parties are tied — before the news yesterday of the embassy killings in Libya.