Americans View Court As Moving Right
Saturday July 28, 2007
According to a new Washington Post-ABC poll, the percentage of Americans who think the Supreme Court is "too conservative" increased from 19 percent to 31 percent in the past two years. Similarly, the percentage who believe the Court is "generally balanced in its decisions" declined slightly from 55 percent to 47 percent.
A slight majority (55 percent) agreed with the Court's decision on abortion; a slight majority (56 percent) disagreed with the Court's decision on race and schools. Both were 5-4 decisions.
I'm not sure how much stock to put in this polling data, since this poll shows that most Americans can't name a sitting Justice.
That said, expect 2008 Presidential candidates off all stripes to speak to the power of the Presidency to have a long-term impact on the judiciary.
See Swing Vote Cases and US Supreme Court Decisions by Vote - 2006.