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June 3, 2009

New polling on Sotomayor (updated)

By Clarice Feldman and Rosslyn Smith

Quinnipiac just released new polling data showing that Americans firmly reject affirmative action policies based on race.  According to the poll released today 

American voters say 55 - 36 percent that affirmative action should be abolished, and disagree 71 - 19 percent with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayer's ruling in the New Haven firefighters' case, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
More than 70 percent of voters say diversity is not a good enough reason to give minorities preferential treatment in competition for government or private sector jobs, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University survey of more than 3,000 voters finds.
Among the specific questions comes this interesting breakdown. It seems that only a plurality of black voters support the practice in government while the majority of Hispanics polled firmly oppose it.   

  • Oppose 70 - 25 percent giving some racial groups preference for government jobs to increase diversity. Black voters support it 49 - 45 percent while Hispanic voters are opposed 58 - 38 percent;
Hat tip: NRO
 
Update: Rasmussen has just released its polling numbers today. They report an erosion of support for Sotomayor with far less than a majority in support of her confirmation. 
Forty-one percent (41%) now favor confirmation of Sotomayor while 36% are opposed. A week ago, those figures were 45% and 29% respectively.
Unchanged from last week is the fact that most Democrats favor confirmation while most Republicans are opposed. Those not affiliated with either major party are now evenly divided. Last week, unaffiliateds leaned modestly in favor of confirmation.

Rasmussen finds some other seemingly conflicting trends.

Forty-eight percent (48%) hold their views less firmly. Among this group, Democrats are more likely to say they Somewhat Approve while Republicans Somewhat Disapprove.

and

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Republicans now view Sotomayor as politically liberal, a view shared by 50% of unaffiliateds. However, 53% of Democrats view the Supreme Court nominee as politically moderate. The partisan divide on this question has increased significantly.

This may be the result of the combination of partisans in both parties tending to circle the wagons combined with both some misgivings and hopes based  on Sotomayor's lack of any judicial record on issues such as abortion.

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