The American public generally supports President George W. Bush's third nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. By a 2-to-1 margin, 50% to 25%, Americans say the Senate should vote to confirm Judge Samuel Alito. Another 25% of Americans have no opinion about his confirmation -- not atypical for public attitudes about Supreme Court nominees.
This 50% support for Alito contrasts with the more restrained support received by the previous nominee, White House counsel Harriet Miers, before she withdrew her name amid growing controversy over her candidacy. In Gallup's initial reading on Miers, only 44% of Americans said she should be confirmed, while 36% disagreed.
Public support for Alito is only slightly less favorable than that for Judge John Roberts when Bush initially named him to succeed the retiring Justice O'Connor.
Reaction to Alito differs by party, although not overwhelmingly so. While the vast majority of Republicans (73%) favor Alito's confirmation, fewer than half of Democrats (40%) oppose it. In fact, by a 40% to 35% margin, only a slight plurality of Democrats oppose Alito's confirmation.
The results are similar according to self-described ideology, although perhaps a bit starker. Those identifying themselves as politically conservative favor Alito's confirmation by a margin of 75% to 6%. Those identifying themselves as liberals oppose it by a margin of 49% to 28%.
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