Alito and public opinion: The return of polarization

I'll be back with Part 3 of Scalitovision 2005 -- or, as I may call it, Alitovision 2005 (just to be more respectful, just to be more accurate now that Alito's differences with Scalia are more apparent) -- later today or over the weekend. In the meantime, let's have a look at public reaction to the Alito nomination:

The Post is reporting on a new poll that shows that "Alito begins the confirmation process with the support of 49 percent of the public". 30 percent are against the nomination and 24 percent are undecided. How this leads to 103 percent is beyond me. I never took statistics.

Regardless:

The poll suggests that Alito's supporters had some reason for concern. Initial public reaction to Alito was considerably less favorable than it has been to a number of other successful court nominees...

The survey also suggests that the Alito nomination may quickly emerge as one of the most divisive partisan and ideological battles of the Bush presidency.

And that's saying something. More: "Currently, 73 percent of all Republicans say he should be confirmed, compared to 33 percent of all Democrats. Six in 10 political conservatives support Alito, compared to slightly more than a third of all liberals and about half of all moderates."

From the unifying incompetence of Harriet Miers to the polarizing competence of Samuel Alito. Ah, it's good to be back to normal again.

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See Scalitovision 2005, Part 1 and Scalitovision 2005, Part 2.