It shouldn't be a stretch for any senator to vote to confirm Ketanji. The public watched the hearings and got a feel for who she is and... they love her. Despite all the ugly racism hurled at her by the GOP-- but especially by Ted Cruz, Marsha Blackburn, Lindsey Graham and Josh Hawley-- she'll be the most popular nominee confirmed since 2005 (John Roberts). Unlike all of the Trump nominees, who were disliked when they were confirmed and are disliked even more today. The new Gallup poll shows KBJ with 58% support (and just 30% opposed to confirmation). Compare that to the dreck Trump put on the court:
Neil Gorsuch - 45% support (32% opposed)
Brett Kavanaugh- 41% support (37% opposed)
Amy Coney Barrett- 51% support (46% opposed)
And the newest national poll on the subject-- out this morning from Marquette Law School-- fund that now that thee dust has settled on the hearings, a startling 66% if adults say they favor conformation! 88% see her as very qualified or somewhat qualified while just 12% (basically the KKK wing of the GOP) see her as unqualified.
She will join the Court with the highest net favorability in the eyes of the public compared to any of the other justices. Before the news of Clarence Thomas' wife being a crackpot Nazi leaked out, he had a +5 in favorability, which is no doubt underwater like Brett Kavanaugh's (minus 11) and Amy Coney Island Baby (minus 1). They only member of the Court with a high favorability rating is Sonia Sotomayor (net +20).
Still, it was major news today when Susan Collins (R-ME) announced she plans to vote for confirmation. After meeting with Ketanji yesterday, Collins told the media, "I have decided to support the confirmation of Judge Jackson to be a member of the Supreme Court... In recent years, senators on both sides of the aisle have gotten away from what I perceive to be the appropriate process for evaluating judicial nominees. In my view, the role under the Constitution assigned to the Senate is to look at the credentials, experience and qualifications of the nominee. It is not to assess whether a nominee reflects the individual ideology of a senator or would vote exactly as an individual senator would want."
Along with Lindsey Graham and Lisa Murkwoski, Collins was one of the 3 Republicans who voted last June to confirm Ketanji's nomination to a seat on the DC Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Graham is unlikely to vote to confirm-- especially now that he's one of the prime suspects in the Madison Cawthorn cocaine and sex orgy scandals-- but Mitt Romney says he's on the fence. That leaves Murkowski, who has a tough primary in which Trump and his neo-fascist puppet, Kelly Tshibaka, keep calling her a RINO. Tshibaka, a racist, also called Ketanji "a clear leftist" and, based on God knows what, said she would "undoubtedly follow her ideology in her rulings and write legislation from the bench... Once again it’s time for the favorite Washington, D.C. pastime of guessing which way Lisa Murkowski will vote. When I’m the next senator from Alaska, the people will never have to wonder what my views are. I will always side with the Constitution and oppose radical leftists." What a piece of work that one is!
I hope you're not already burned out on polls. There was another one released this morning worth taking note of. It's an NBC News poll that is pretty confusing in terms of what voters on looking for. The poll purports to measure 15 different issues and qualities that voters are looking for in their midterm candidates. Ready to figure out how this is going to impact voter choices?
The most popular issues and qualities among registered voters: funding the police, expanding oil and gas production, supporting the bipartisan infrastructure law and supporting Biden’s call to lower health care and prescription-drug costs.
The least popular: saying Trump won the 2020 presidential election, wanting to overturn Roe v. Wade, being endorsed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and defunding the police.
• A candidate who supports funding the police: 75 percent more likely to vote, 11 percent less likely (+64).
• A candidate who supports expanding oil and gas: 69 percent more likely, 17 percent less likely (+52).
• A candidate who supports bipartisan infrastructure law: 63 percent more likely, 13 percent less likely (+50).
• A candidate who supports lowering health/drug costs: 62 percent more likely, 16 percent less likely (+46).
• A candidate who supports Roe v. Wade decision: 56 percent more likely, 25 percent less likely (+31).
• A candidate who wants to do more to support Ukraine: 50 percent more likely, 19 percent less likely (+31).
• A candidate endorsed by Bernie Sanders: 33 percent more likely, 39 percent less likely (-6).
• A candidate endorsed by Joe Biden: 30 percent more likely, 42 percent less likely (-12).
• A candidate endorsed by Donald Trump: 33 percent more likely, 47 percent less likely (-14).
• A candidate endorsed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: 22 percent more likely, 39 percent less likely (-17).
• A candidate endorsed by Marjorie Taylor Greene 7 percent more likely, 34 percent less likely (-27).
• A candidate who says Trump won in 2020: 20 percent more likely, 54 percent less likely (-34).
• A candidate who wants to overturn Roe v. Wade: 20 percent more likely, 58 percent less likely (-38).
• A candidate endorsed by Mitch McConnell: 10 percent more likely, 48 percent less likely (-38).
• A candidate who supports defunding the police: 17 percent more likely, 73 percent less likely (-56).
While most Democratic voters who backed Biden in the primaries are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports funding the police (by 79 percent to 4 percent), a plurality of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren primary voters are less likely to vote for such a candidate.
Biden primary voters are more likely to support a candidate who wants to expand oil and gas production (by 59 percent to 23 percent), while Sanders/Warren voters are less likely to vote for that candidate.
And interestingly, Sanders/Warren voters are more supportive of a candidate who wants to do more to support Ukraine (by 65 percent to 11 percent) than Biden primary voters are (49 percent to 22 percent). FYI: This is mainly due to African-American voters in the poll being less supportive of candidates wanting to do more to help Ukraine.