Poll: Majority of Americans Back Samuel Alito, Say Filibuster Wrong 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 24, 2006
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — As the Senate Judiciary Committee signed off on Samuel Alito’s Supreme Court nomination a new poll finds a majority of Americans support him and believe a filibuster is not justified.
The new Gallup poll finds 54 percent of Americans support Alito’s nomination while just 30 percent opposing his confirmation in the Senate.
The poll found hearings in the Senate judicial panel increased support for Alito. Before the hearings, Americans backed Alito by a 49-30 percent margin, which grew in the new poll to 54-30.
Meanwhile just 38 percent of those polled say a filibuster by Senate Democrats is justified while 48 percent said it is not and 15 percent were uncertain.
The Senate plans to begin debate on Alito’s nomination on Wednesday, after the Judiciary Committee approved his nomination on a 10-8 party-line vote.
The Senate is not expected to have enough votes to sustain a filibuster, but the final vote on Alito’s nomination will likely be much closer than the 78-22 vote Chief Justice John Roberts received.
Should he be confirmed, Alito would replace outgoing pro-abortion Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and pro-life groups expect him to be the fourth vote necessary to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that allow abortion throughout pregnancy for virtually any reason.
The Gallup poll, however, found more Americans think he will vote to uphold Roe.
Some 34 percent said they thought Alito would vote to reverse the pro-abortion decision and 44 percent say they think he will uphold it. Another 21 percent were unsure.
Gallup surveyed 1,006 adults from Friday through Sunday and released the results of the poll yesterday. It has a 3 percent margin of error.
