Poll: Americans Opposed to Nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 14, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new poll shows a plurality of Americans are opposed to the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, who has been linked to pro-abortion groups, to the Supreme Court. A new Rasmussen national telephone poll finds 38 percent of voters support Sotomayor while 44 percent oppose her nomination.
That’s a five-point increase in opposition from two weeks ago when 37% were in favor of her confirmation and 39% were opposed.
Forty-five percent have a favorable opinion of her, including 20% very favorable while 46 percent view her unfavorably, with 25% very unfavorable. These numbers also have remained largely the same since her nomination was announced, Rasmussen noted.
However, the survey also showed Sotomayor helped her case after giving her opening statement during the first day of the hearing on her nomination.
Looking at the results of the poll from Monday night alone (the poll also included Sunday) 42 percent of voters favored Sotomayor’s confirmation to the high court, while 44 percent were opposed.
"This indicates that while opposition to Sotomayor increased in the days leading up to the hearings, her first day began to reverse that trend. Obviously, where it goes from here depends on what happens at the hearings," pollster Scott Rasmussen said.
Still, 50% of voters view her as a liberal, up seven points from the survey in May, while 32% say she is a moderate. Just two percent say her ideology is conservative, and 16% are not sure.
The survey found 18 percent of voters are not sure how they stand on pro-abortion President Barack Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee. But, Rasmussen reports those voters give Obama a 62 percent approval rating so they likely lean towards confirming her.
Sixty-one percent of Democrats say Sotomayor should be confirmed, but 72% of Republicans disagree. Among voters not affiliated with either party, 47% oppose confirmation, but 30% favor it.
Hispanic voters favor Sotomayor’s confirmation by a 61% to 34% margin.
Eighty-seven percent of voters say it is at least somewhat likely that Sotomayor, a federal appeals court judge, will be confirmed by the Senate as the next Supreme Court justice, including 60% who say it is very likely.
Only five percent say it is not likely that Sotomayor, who has been linked to a prominent pro-abortion Hispanic group, will be confirmed.
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