If you watched any of the Supreme Court hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson and found yourself repulsed by Republicans, you weren't alone. In a Quinnipiac University poll released late last week, 52% of Americans disapproved of the way GOP senators were handling the historic confirmation process for Judge Jackson's nomination, while just 27% approved of it (21% didn't offer an opinion).
In contrast, a 42% plurality of Americans approved of the way Democrats handled the process, while 34% disapproved (23% offered no opinion).
Americans also support confirming Jackson to the high court 51% to 30%, according to the poll.
As The Washington Post's Aaron Blake pointed out, Republicans fared worse in their handling of Jackson's confirmation than Democrats did in their handling of the contentious hearings for Brett Kavanaugh—who faced a credible sexual assault allegation amid his confirmation.
Listen and subscribe to Daily Kos' The Brief podcast with Markos Moulitsas and Kerry Eleveld
Republicans received a 25-point net negative rating from the public (27%-52%) for the way they comported themselves during Jackson's process, while a CNN/SSRS poll in October 2018 found Democrats received a 20-point net negative rating from the public (36%-56%) during the Kavanaugh confirmation.
The public also opposed confirming Kavanaugh by 51%-41%. In fact, the place where Kavanaugh really excelled with the public was in the 33% who held a "very negative" view of him. For comparison, 8% of Americans had a very negative view of Neil Gorsuch and 7% held a very negative view of John Roberts in CNN polls during confirmation for the two eventual justices.
In any case, the main differences between the Jackson and Kavanaugh confirmations is the fact Jackson is substantially more popular and that during consideration of Kavanaugh, neither party fared particularly well in the public's estimation of their handling of the confirmation process. In fact, Republicans also received a 20-point net negative rating from Americans—35%-55%—for the way they handled Kavanaugh's confirmation, whereas Democrats won plurality support for their handling of Jackson’s confirmation.
But Republicans clearly aren't concerned one bit that a majority of Americans disapprove of the way they conducted themselves during consideration of a nominee who will likely become the Supreme Court's first Black female justice. In fact, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is currently pressuring his caucus to vote against Judge Jackson’s confirmation.
The only audience Republicans ever really care about—particularly in a pre-midterm environment—is the 27% who said they approved of how the GOP has handled the Jackson hearings. It's always about juicing the base for Republicans, who continue to be out of step with the majority of Americans on most issues concerning voters. But it's who shows up at the polls that matters, and Republicans will continue to ignore American majorities as long as they don't face any real electoral consequences for their extreme positions.
