The Hill Poll: Dems More Extreme Than Republicans

Extremists play a bigger role in the Democratic Party than in the GOP, according to a new poll from The Hill of likely voters in 10 battleground congressional districts. The survey found that 44 percent of the respondents believe the Democratic Party has more extreme domination, compared with 37 percent who think the Republican Party has more extremist influence.

The results are obviously good news for Republicans and bad news for Democrats — and that opinion comes from a democrat.

“That’s real trouble for Democrats,” said Jim Kessler, co-founder of the Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank. “All the press coverage has been about how these tea party candidates are fringe ideologues, and there have been high-profile examples of them proving the point. Yet, still at this moment, you have independents saying, ‘I think the Democrats are a little more extreme than the Republicans.' "