The Sotomayor hearings have commenced and it appears likely that they will result in the confirmation of the Hispanic Supreme Court Justice.
Seeking to become the 111th person to sit on the bench of our nation’s highest court Judge Sonia Sotomayor spent Monday in Senate room hearings. Beginning with praising remarks from Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sotomayor was the subject of a spirited and mostly civil ideological debate between Democrats and Republicans.
The confirmation of the Bronx, NY native as a woman and first Hispanic Judge would mark a groundbreaking moment. It would also be spun as an important victory for President Obama who needs a rebound on the domestic front. This coming after the mostly gloomy economic news and his slowly eroding approval ratings which dominated headlines in June and early-July.
Despite some growing opposition from Republicans and conservative groups and the overruling of her decision by the Supreme Court in the New Haven firefighters case, the views of most Americans remain positive and mostly unchanged from May. According to a just released Gallup survey 53% of voters would like to see the Senate vote in favor of her confirmation to the federal bench. That’s down just a single point since her name first became known in late-May and favorably balanced against just 33% of responders who prefer a “nay” vote.
Rasmussen Reports find that 84% of Americans expect Sotomayor to win confirmation. Overwhelming numbers such as this create an air of inevitability surrounding the process and may make it difficult for outnumbered Senate Republicans to effectively keep her from being confirmed. More numbers from Rasmussen suggest that while 45% of voters believe the most important Supreme Court consideration is the nominee’s legal background and competence, a solid minority (27%) think the court should represent the “diversity” of America. Furthermore 23% “think the nominee’s views on important issues should be the priority.”
Gallup meanwhile indicated that Sotomayor’s favorability ratings stand at 38%, with 26% unfavorable and 17% who remain unsure. This is down from 43% favorability in May, up from 21% unfavorable, and down from 21% who were unsure. Rather absurdly meanwhile the Gallup poll found that more adults (19%) have not heard of the Judge in July than in their previous survey in May (15%).
CBS numbers asking slightly different poll questions find that many Americans (39%) have not heard about Sotomayor or are undecided (23%) about their opinions of the Judge. Still by a 30-14% voters are in favor of her confirmation, with a large 52% still suggesting that they “can’t say” with confidence one way or the other.
Returning once more to the Gallup survey we find some interesting numbers that in conjunction with the Democratic Party’s 60-40 Senate seat advantage seem to point to the likelihood that she will be confirmed. Independent support of Sotomayor’s confirmation remains relatively steady between two polls taken in May and July. Support from Democrats has dropped slightly from a 76-6% favorable-unfavorable margin to a 72-15% split. Interestingly enough Gallup finds that in spite of general opposition from Republicans, her favorability has actually improved amongst the party’s voters. Opposition within the GOP holds steady at 57% but those now in favor of a “yay” vote have increased five points to 29% since the May poll.
No comments:
Post a Comment