Harris Poll: Americans Are Divided On
Alito
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
January 4, 2006
Americans lack consensus on whether the Senate should confirm Judge Samuel
Alito as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, a Harris Interactive poll
shows.
Almost equal thirds of all adults believe that Judge Alito should be
confirmed (34%), should not be confirmed (31%) or say they aren't sure (34%),
according to the poll. A majority of Republicans (65% vs. 9%) favor his
confirmation, the polls shows, while a plurality of Democrats (48% vs. 14%)
oppose it, and Independents are split (34% for confirmation; 38% against).
However, nearly 70% of those surveyed in the online poll of 1,961 adults
would oppose Judge Alito's confirmation if they thought he would vote to make
abortion illegal. That percentage rises among Democrats (86%) and Independents
(74%), compared with 22% of Republicans. More than half of Republicans polled
say they would support his confirmation if they thought he would vote to make
abortion illegal, compared with 14% of Democrats.
Judge Alito's conservative record has caused division among many Americans,
The Wall Street Journal has reported. Environmentalists
believe he could limit laws on clean air and clean water, while women's
groups claim he could shift the court toward overturning Roe v. Wade.
Additionally, senators of both
parties plan to ask him to clarify his understanding of congressional
authority.
See the results of the latest poll:
"President Bush has nominated Samuel Alito to be an
associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Do you believe he should be confirmed by the Senate?"
Base: All Adults
|
|
Party ID |
|
Total |
Republican |
Democrat |
Independent |
Should be confirmed |
34% |
65% |
14% |
34% |
Should not be confirmed |
31 |
9 |
48 |
38 |
Not sure |
34 |
26 |
38 |
28 |
Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding
* * *
"If you thought that Judge Alito, if confirmed, would vote
to make abortions illegal, would you favor or oppose his confirmation?"
Base: All Adults
|
|
Party ID |
|
Total |
Republican |
Democrat |
Independent |
Favor (Net) |
31% |
56% |
14% |
26% |
Strongly Favor |
16 |
32 |
6 |
11 |
Somewhat Favor |
15 |
25 |
8 |
15 |
Oppose (Net) |
69 |
44 |
86 |
74 |
Somewhat Oppose |
20 |
21 |
16 |
22 |
Strongly Oppose |
49 |
23 |
70 |
53 |
Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding
Methodology: This survey was conducted online in the U.S.,
Dec. 8-14, 2005 among a nationwide cross sections of 1,961 adults. Figures for
age, sex, race, education, region and household income were weighted where
necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the
population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents'
propensity to be online. In theory, with probability samples of these sizes,
one could say with 95% certainty that the results have a statistical precision
of +/-2 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. population
had been polled with complete accuracy. Sampling error for Republican (620),
Democrat (614) and Independent (510) sub-samples is higher and varies.
Write to the Online Journal's editors at newseditors@wsj.com
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is a world-wide market research and consulting
firm, best known for The Harris Poll and its use of the Internet to conduct
scientifically accurate market research. For more information, see www.harrisinteractive.com. To
become a participant in The Harris Poll Online and join future online surveys,
see www.harrispollonline.com.
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