40% Approve of Kagan: Poll

Gallup finds numbers similar to Alito, Miers
By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff
Posted May 12, 2010 8:58 AM CDT
40% Approve of Kagan: Poll
This Jan. 21, 2004 photo released by the Harvard University Law School shows Elena Kagan, then dean of the law school, at the grand opening of the school's new ice skating rink in Cambridge, Mass.   (AP Photo/Harvard University News Office, Stephanie Mitchell)

Forty percent of Americans think Elena Kagan was an "excellent" or "good" choice for the Supreme Court, while 14% rate President Obama's choice of nominee "poor," according to a new Gallup poll. That puts Kagan's initial approval numbers in line with those for Bush nominees Samuel Alito and Harriet Miers, but lower than Sonia Sotomayor and John Roberts.

Kagan stood apart from other recent Court nominees in only one way: A record 24% said they had no opinion about her either way. Unsurprisingly, Democrats were far more favorable (63%) toward Kagan than Republicans (18%). Some 35% of Independents approved of the choice, while 10% rated it poor. In contrast to Sonia Sotomayor, who polled better among women than men, no gender difference showed up in Kagan's approval numbers.
(More Gallup poll stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X