More SCOTUS polls
Posted by Richard on October 30, 2005
New World Man has a quiz you may want to take. Answer a few questions, and he’ll tell you who your favorite candidate for the Supreme Court is. Here’s my result:
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JUDGE JANICE ROGERS BROWN U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, appointed by G.W. Bush, born 1949
Judge Brown’s nomination to the federal bench from the California Supreme Court was dislodged when the "Gang of Fourteen" decided not to filibuster people anymore. Don’t think the same thing would happen if she were elevated to SCOTUS! Think Clarence Thomas! New World Man presents: My favorite candidate for the Supreme Court |
Mind you, the first time I took the quiz, I answered the questions in a way calculated to get this result. I indicated that it was very important that the nominee be a woman and a minority — not something I really believe, but…
Out of curiosity, I took it a couple of more times, trying to be completely honest. Depending on one question that I consider unclear, I got either Brown or Priscilla Owen. The question: "How important are CONSERVATIVE CREDENTIALS to you? Or, how important is RALLYING THE BASE?" If I chose "Very important," I got Brown; "Dealbreaker important" shifted me to Owens. I consider "conservative credentials" a bit vague — ask me about judicial philosophy.
Meanwhile, there are other pure preference polls going on, and Brown appears to be the runaway favorite just about everywhere:
- Free Republic (3400+ votes, half by non-members): Brown leads with 60%, Luttig is second at 16%. Results are almost identical for members and non-members.
- Move America Forward (<300 votes, registration required, but not obtrusive): Brown has 73%, all others in single digits.
- PoliPundit has a somewhat different poll, which asks "Who would you find acceptable…" You can select as many as you want from the list of 18 candidates (you aren’t told this, but if you understand the distinction between check boxes and radio buttons, it’s obvious). The results, therefore, are much more tightly bunched (and no percentages given). Top three: Brown 639, Luttig 554, Alito 440.
So go vote in those three — and in the Reasoned Audacity poll (in the left sidebar) that I mentioned earlier. If you know of any other polls or surveys, please post a comment about them.
The news and some bloggers in the know, meanwhile, have been saying that Alito and Luttig are the two top finalists. Could be. But how many of them predicted the Miers choice?
I haven’t read opinions from either Alito or Luttig. I’ve read a fair amount about the latter, less about the former, and I suspect I’d be happier with Luttig. Probably with Owen, too. But I still strongly prefer Brown. Go vote for her in those polls.
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