[dirtboy]

Here's an interesting one:

IMPORTANCE OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION TOTAL

..................................Democrat Republican
Extremely Important (30%) 46% 52%
Very Important (32%) ...... 49% 50%

Sixty-two percent said illegal immigration was extremely important or very important - and almost as many Dems felt that way as Republicans.

[BufordP]

As you go through all the various categories you start to notice Repubs supported Repubs and Dems supported Dems. The question probably has to do more with miniscule changes (by Repubs,Dems, and Mods) away from the Repubs over the last 2-5 years.

As you cited with your graph, it's a gradation of many things. If the Repubs had done a better job in one or several of those areas, they would have gotten a pass in the remaining areas. My personal opinion: it sure didn't help that they outspent the Clinton Administration when they had the chance to act like Republicans.