Sotomayor: Positive public reaction

by Mark Silva

Initial public reaction to the nomination of federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor of New York for the U.S. Supreme Court runs more positive than negative, according to the Gallup Poll's first measure of President Barack Obama's first nominee for the nation's highest court.

Nearly half of all Americans surveyed this week rated the nomination as "excellent'' or "good'' - 47 percent - and another 20 percent rated the choice as "fair.'' Few of those surveyed judged the nomination as "poor'' - 13 percent.

Still, just 19 percent of those surveyed Tuesday night, the day the president announced his choice of Sotomayor, a member of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, to replace the retiring Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court, deemed the president's nominee an "excellent'' choice.

Gallup, which has taken similar measures of public reaction to the nominations of other recent candidates for the Supreme Court, found that only Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2005, drew a stronger initial review from the public. One quarter of those surveyed called Roberts an excellent choice.

The public's perspective on Sotomayor, who could become the first Hispanic member of the Supreme Court and only the third woman ever seated on the court should the Senate confirm the president's nominee, also is skewed along the lines of the party affiliation of Americans asked about the choice.

Among Democrats surveyed, 33 percent called Sotomayor's selection excellent. Among Republicans, just 9 percent said so. Among Republicans, 28 percent called the selection poor, and just 1 percent of Democrats said so.

This follows a recent pattern, exposing the depths of partisan divides in recent years: Since Gallup started gauging initial public opinion of nominations for the Supreme Court in 2005, about three quarters of those identifying with the party of the president reacted positively to his nominees.

In addition, a majority of women surveyed by Gallup - 54 percent - took positive views of Sotomayor's nomination. Fewer men surveyed - 42 percent - reacted positively.

"Much of the discussion about Obama's nomination decision has focused on his clear intent to appoint a woman, given the fact that there is currently only one female justice on the court,'' writes Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll. "Additionally, it has been widely noted that Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic on the Court if she is confirmed by the Senate.''

Yet a majority of those surveyed said they believed that Sotomayor's experience on federal courts - she had served as a federal District Court judge since 1991 and on the Circuit Court of Appeals since 1998 - were "very important'' in the president's selection of his nominee for the Supreme Court. A similar percentage, 59 percent, called her intellect a very important consideration in the president's selection.

The survey, based on interviews with 1,015 adults conducted May 26, carries a possible margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.