A new poll of 3,000 U.S. voters by Quinnipiac University shows that Sotomayor's approval rating--55 percent--is right about where John Roberts's was in 2005. What's more interesting: Hispanic voters approve of Sotomayor at about the same level as the general public does:
Men approve 50 - 31 percent while women approve 60 - 20 percent. Approval among other groups is:
* 49 - 29 percent among white voters;
* 85 - 2 percent among black voters;
* 58 - 24 percent among Hispanic voters;
* 51 - 26 percent among white Catholics;
* 66 - 18 percent among Jews;
* 43 - 37 percent among white Protestants
* White evangelical Christians oppose the nomination 41 - 35 percent.
This poll appears to dispel the notion that Republicans will pay a heavy political price among Hispanics for opposing Sotomayor on principle. It would be interesting to see a poll that breaks out these numbers further to show how much higher Sotomayor's support is among Puerto Ricans than it is among other Hispanics.
Yesterday, Quinnipiac reported that 79 percent of voters disagree with Sotomayor's ruling in Ricci v. DeStefano, in which white and Hispanic firefighters were denied promotions because of their race. But very few voters are aware of Sotomayor's ruling in this case. As Quinnipiac's Peter Brown observes, "So far the Republicans have barely laid a glove on ... Sotomayor."
Shouldn't Republicans be able to gain ground among most voters by focusing attention on Ricci?
(Hat tip: Sam Stein)
