Poll: 55% don't yet have opinion of Sotomayor; Hispanics generally in line with everyone else on how GOP should proceed

Margaret Talev of McClatchy offers "Poll: GOP risks loss of respect if it goes after Sotomayor" (link). Both the absurd headline and, to a slightly lesser extent the article, try to spin the poll in the most Democratic Party-favorable fashion possible. However, that fails:

Fully 55 percent of Americans said they hadn't yet heard enough about Sonia Sotomayor to have an opinion of her, according to a new McClatchy-Ipsos poll. That could be the opportunity that Republicans can exploit by attacking her. Even so, 54 percent said the Senate should confirm her, while only 21 percent said it should not, and one in four Americans isn't yet sure...

...the poll revealed a danger for Republicans: 37 percent of the general population and 42 percent of Hispanics said they'd feel less favorably toward the Republican Party if Senate Republicans "overwhelmingly oppose" Sotomayor, 54, a Latina federal appellate judge from New York.

A much smaller number - 24 percent of the general population and 20 percent of Hispanics - said that organized GOP opposition would endear Republicans to them.

Obviously, there's a huge opportunity here for the GOP to define her, but just as obviously they're not even going to try. Note also that Hispanics aren't exactly joining hands in pan-Hispanic unity in support of her; while those numbers are on the expected side, their numbers aren't that different from the rest of us.

If you want to help lower public support for her, send out emails to all your friends containing links to the various news reports discussing her strong support for identity politics and affirmative action. If you can find a good summary of the Ricci case, send that as well. And, let those national GOP leaders know that if they don't vigorously oppose her you'll work to get others elected in their place.

Comments

And whenever I hear about a poll, I wonder how many of the people they polled are the kind who regularly show up on Leno\'s \'Jaywalking\' segments [1].

Links:
------
[1] www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjwkyYksrHU