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By Matthew Rusling
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- More Americans believe the Republican Party (GOP) will do a better job than the Democratic Party of protecting the country from foreign threats, but the gap is narrowing, Gallup said in a poll released Thursday.
The GOP now leads the Democratic Party by seven percentage points, or 47 percent to 40 percent, down from their 16-point lead a year ago, which was 52 percent to 36 percent, Gallup found in the poll.
Americans have favored the GOP in all but two years since the question of which party can better protect the country from overseas threats was first asked in 2002, though often by less than a majority.
The only time Democrats were favored was in September 2007, when 47 percent said the Democrats could do a better job, compared with 42 percent for the GOP.
At that time, most Americans had become pessimistic about the chances of the U.S. winning the Iraq War and were unhappy with Republican President George W. Bush's handling of foreign policy, Gallup found.
A year later, however, Republicans once again edged out Democrats on this issue, 49 percent to 42 percent, in a poll conducted shortly after the Republican National Convention. The Republican candidate that year was war hero and Vietnam War veteran Senator John McCain, running against Democratic freshman Senator Barack Obama.
In September 2012, in a poll conducted immediately after Obama was nominated for reelection at the Democratic National Convention, Americans were evenly split - 45 percent for each party - on which party would better defend the nation against foreign threats, Gallup said.
The slide in support for the GOP this year could be tied to the upcoming presidential election. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has experience as both a U.S. senator and as secretary of state, while GOP nominee Donald Trump has no direct experience in conducting foreign policy, Gallup said.
Public opinion about which of the nation's two major parties does a better job on the economy and national security becomes more complicated in a presidential election year, as Americans' opinions of the parties co-mingle with their views about the party nominees, Gallup said.
