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Sotomayor and Hispanic Judges: Doing the Math

Judge Sonia Sotomayor has been getting heat from critics for her comment in a 2001 speech saying she’d hope “a wise Latina woman… would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that...

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May 27, 2009 in Supreme Court | Permalink | User Comments (8)

Sotomayor: The Political Equation

Beyond the public’s preferences in a Supreme Court nominee, which I blogged about this morning, there’s another little issue at play: the politics of it. Republicans and conservatives are poised for a spirited challenge to Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination, as our...

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May 26, 2009 in Supreme Court | Permalink | User Comments (4)

Supreme Court Pick: The Public Perspective

While we can count on interest groups across the political spectrum to swarm all over President Obama’s Supreme Court pick, Americans themselves have very little in the way of demands: a smart judge, and not too ideological, if you please....

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May 26, 2009 in Supreme Court | Permalink | User Comments (9)

Toxic Data?

5/29 update: I'm adding now my reply to Prof. Lichter at the end of this chain. 5/27 update: Below my entry I'm posting a reply from Prof. S. Robert Lichter of STATS, with my appreciation for his response. I'll let...

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May 21, 2009 in Problem Polls | Permalink | User Comments (2)

Gitmo and Guns

With Gitmo and guns in the news today, a few data points for context never hurt: GITMO - Like his position on torture, President Obama's order closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay is not an especially strong suit for...

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May 20, 2009 in National Security/Terrorism, Social Issues | Permalink | User Comments (4)

Emission Standards: Watch the Pothole

Public opinion is broadly on the side of the stricter auto emissions and fuel efficiency standards the Obama administration’s announcing today. But there's one possible pothole: the price. In a poll we did last summer, 78 percent of Americans favored...

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May 19, 2009 in Environment and Energy | Permalink | User Comments (6)

Public Opinion on Abortion: No Easy Answer

Just on cue with President Obama's visit to Notre Dame yesterday, public opinion on abortion is looking even more conflicted than usual. As the president himself suggested, it's a highly fraught subject - and one of those on which a...

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May 18, 2009 in Social Issues | Permalink | User Comments (15)

Who, Me Spend?

President Obama's announcement today of $17 billion in budget cuts, and his pledge to shrink the record federal deficit, aim at one of his greatest potential vulnerabilities – getting tagged as a free-spender. In our latest ABC/Post poll just 51...

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May 7, 2009 in Partisanship/Party ID, President Obama | Permalink | User Comments (5)

Obama, Karzai and Zardari: Behind the Smiles

See additional data at the end of this post on the corrosive impact of civilian casualties on Afghan attitudes toward the United States and its allies. While we can imagine President Karzai and President Zardari will try to make nice...

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May 6, 2009 in International Polls | Permalink | User Comments (0)