Two new national polls show that Sonia Sotomayor is starting out the confirmation process with solid ratings among the American public — a sign that the initial wave of right-wing attacks doesn’t seem to be working.
In the new Gallup poll, 47% of Americans rated President Obama’s choice of Sotomayor as either excellent or good, compared to only 33% who characterize it was fair or poor, and 20% with no opinion.
In the Rasmussen poll, Sotomayor has a 49% favorable rating among likely voters, against 36% unfavorable. In addition, 45% of likely voters said the Senate should confirm her, to 29% who say they should not, and 26% who don’t know. Even more telling, 59% say it is very likely she will be confirmed, 28% say it is somewhat likely — and only 4% say it is not very likely and 1% not likely at all.
