March 18, 2012

Only 28% of likely voters rate the Supreme Court "excellent" or "good."

This is the lowest Rasmussen has recorded (since it began tracking this question in 2006.)
Voters from all party affiliations give the Supreme Court similar ratings, but Democrats and unaffiliated voters give slightly higher negatives than Republicans do.

Overall, 33% believe that the Supreme Court is too politically liberal, while 28% say it is too conservative. Nearly as many (25%) say the ideological balance is about right. Another 14% are undecided. Most GOP voters (56%) think the court is too liberal. Most Democrats (54%) say it's too conservative. Unaffiliateds are more narrowly divided.
Ha ha. I find that breakdown funny. It makes me say the Supreme Court is actually doing just fine. Everybody wants it to skew more toward their politics? They don't deserve what they want.
A plurality of all voters (43%) believes the two justices nominated by President Obama are too liberal, showing little change over the past few months. Only seven percent (7%) regard Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kegan as too conservative, while 36% say their ideologies are about right. Fourteen percent (14%) are undecided.

Fifty-one percent (51%) of politically moderate voters and 65% of liberal voters believe the ideologies of both justices are about right, while most conservatives (75%) believe they are too liberal.
See what I mean?

Now, given that very moderate opinion about the Court generally, it's interesting to see that 69% of voters say that government lacks the constitutional power to require individuals to buy health insurance.

26 comments:

edutcher said...

I have the feeling people are preparing themselves to be sold out by the Supremes yet again.

traditionalguy said...

100% of the Obama I's reigning court wants the relic Supreme Court and the relic Congress to quit grabbing any of the King's inherent power over his country.

Why separate powers when we have a Messiah who is willing to rule us, care for us, feed us and surrender for us and Israel to make peace in the world?

SteveR said...

Only seven percent (7%) regard Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kegan as too conservative

Wow! I get the feeling that's an informed opinion. Not that either have been on the "conservative side of any opinion, ever.

cubanbob said...

Soon enough when the court rules on Obamacare we will find out if we still have a constitution or a meaningless document. I pray for the former and fear for the latter.

bagoh20 said...

The court can be too left or right regardless of public opinion. Shouldn't the the court in having the job of upholding the Constitution generally be more conservative than the general public or the congress. They are charged with making sure we stick to (conserve) the Constitution.

Bender said...

I find that breakdown funny. It makes me say the Supreme Court is actually doing just fine.

Ted Koppel used to say all the time that because ABC News received criticism from both the right and the left that that was proof that it was unbiased and neutral.

It proves nothing. There are plenty on the left who criticize Obama for being too "conservative." That does not make him middle-of-the-road.

As for the Court, a court which has all too often throughout history been a hindrance and obstruction to freedom and liberty, and which was a major cause of civil war in this country, that anyone might rate it as even "fair" shows the depths to which our educational system has fallen.

Fen said...

Only seven percent (7%) regard Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kegan as too conservative

That should be a disqualifer for those who think the court overall is too conservative. So subtract 7% as partisan idiots to the left of Marx. Which leaves:

SCOTUS too liberal: 33%
SCOTUS too conservative: 21%

Swifty Quick said...

t proves nothing. There are plenty on the left who criticize Obama for being too "conservative." That does not make him middle-of-the-road.

Ahh, the fallacy of the golden mean.

It's also worth noting the present distribution of the Court makes Kennedy Solomon, or so he seems to think.

Saint Croix said...

Liberals mock the Court for saying that corporations are persons.

Right-wingers are appalled that the Court thinks babies are commodities.

Could be that both sides have a point, yes?

The Supreme Court is way nicer to corporations than they are to babies.

Think of all our law classes that are devoted to money. Contracts. Corporations. Property. Bankruptcy. Torts.

Liberals prefer (and I am in this category) classes that speak to the human soul. Criminal law. Constitutional law. Jurisprudence. Law and Literature.

Of course part of the liberal disdain for money is a disdain for work. Or at least working for money. Liberals will work hard at something they enjoy.

We pay people money so they will do things they do not want to do. Liberals instinctively dislike this. But of course there are lots of jobs that nobody wants to do. And we have this thing called "money" so people will do them.

I am firmly in the liberal camp on this. I am all about the selfish pursuit of joy in my own life.

But I always vote conservative because I know they are way smarter about money than liberals.

And there will be more joy under capitalism than socialism.

But I hate working for money. I hate it with a liberal passion. I want joy in my life. I want to spend my time doing something that is thrilling and fun and cool.

Liberals, by the way, define babies as commodities because we find a great deal of joy in sex. And we like pursuing our joy, and we will not let the babies get in our way.

I believe the conservatives on the Supreme Court realize, at some level, that the liberal pursuit of the joy of sex has resulted in infanticide.

But, being conservative, they are restrained in their criticisms. They are cautious and conservative.

As conservatives, they think their institution is quite important and must be protected. (See Casey). After all, if we have no institutions, say the conservatives, all is lost.

I basically have a liberal mentality, which means I do not give a fuck for their institution. I am quite capable of finding joy in chaos, instability, and passion.

The pro-life movement has been dominated by conservatives. Which means it has been cautious, and conservative, and restrained.

As more and more people read Carhart, and see the dead bodies on the internet, and realize the media has been hiding the truth, you will see more outrage, and more passion. And probably more violence, too.

Cripes, Professor, you do realize that we have modern day John Browns running around and shooting abortion doctors?

While a murder prosecution is going on against an abortion doctor for killing babies?

So no, I would not say the Supreme Court is doing "just fine."

Mick said...

Nonsense "law prof". The fact that some view the Constitution w/ disdain doesn't mean the they should be met half way. The Constitution is the law, not men.

tim maguire said...

Almost 30 years of the executive and legislative branches' treating the Supreme Court as a political body (starting with the confirmation of Robert Bork) has led the public to think of the Supreme Court as a political body, to the detriment of public respect for the court.

Is anybody surprised?

ShadowFox said...

Bender wrote: It proves nothing. There are plenty on the left who criticize Obama for being too "conservative." That does not make him middle-of-the-road.

Really? Plenty on the right think he's a socialist. That does not even make him liberal.

But the whole polling thing is out of control. It's like asking Oklahoma farmers which supercomputer they prefer after lecturing them on Chinese theft of technology.

Saint Croix said...

I have to address 100 envelopes today, as part of my master plan to shame Justice Scalia.

At least I'm not shitting in the envelopes. That would really suck.

rhhardin said...

It's no longer obvious from what the court does that the court is doing anything other than leftism.

So it gets judged on how leftist it is, not on what it ought to be doing.

Wince said...

Imagine how much lower those poll scores would be if even just only one of them did not attend an "elite" law school?

Penny said...

"...it's interesting to see that 69% of voters say that government lacks the constitutional power to require individuals to buy health insurance."

It is! Clearly people on both sides of the aisle came together on "something", if only wishful thinking.

Just a reminder to all that if the Supreme Court does not decide this way, voters get a second shot at getting rid of Obamacare and the requirement to buy healthcare coverage in the November election.

Are you paying attention young, healthy voters?

Mark O said...

Obamacare simply does not feel like freedom. I think that sense is what drives the popular sense of Constitutionality

The bill is unconstitutional by all ordinary measures, but we will see.

cassandra lite said...

Coincidence: I rate only 28 percent of likely voters either "excellent" or "good".

David said...

It will be fun when they take the survey again after the Obamacare decision.

madAsHell said...

Surveys are intended to persuade. They don't have to use real numbers.

victoria said...

I think part of it is that the uber right demonizes the court, especially the justices who are not super conservative. If you say something enough times, people will believe it is true, even if it isn't.


Vicki from Pasadena

Patrick said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Patrick said...

Well Vicky, you could say the same thing in reverse. It could probably be put "The members of the Supreme Court who disagree with me are too "liberal" or "conservative." People see it based on their perception of what those words mean to them, including you.

Fen said...

Oh no, Victoria has to use adjectives like "uber" right and "super" conservative.

I guess a memo went out that "extreme ultra right wing extremist" had finally met its shelf-life.

Before Instapundit, we used to play a fun game watching the MSM - every conservative was referred to as a right-wing extremist. And every left-wing extremist was referred to as a liberal.

Fen said...

The enteraining part is when people like Vicoria encounter someone actually from the far-right. They struggle because they've aleady used up all their adjectives on mere RINOs.

Like when the Muslim's riot and kill over a Koran burning. They have nothing left to threaten with when they suffer a *real* injustice.

Andy Freeman said...

> The Supreme Court is way nicer to corporations than they are to babies.

They're also nicer to pornography than they are to political speech.