Judge Sonia Sotomayor who has been nominated by President Barack Obama as the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice (to replace Justive David Souter) is being well received by the public. Most preference measurements suggest that Judge Sotomayor enjoys the approval of majority of Americans — the most recently ABC News-Washington Post poll showing that almost 62 percent of Americans the Judge.
Why is this so? There are many tactical reasons such as President Obama’s deft handling of the nomination and the follow-through, and Republican party’s lack of cohesive leadership for this. But most important reasons is a more fundamental (and structural) reason.
The country has moved on several issues. For example, the acceptance of rights and liberties of gay men and women has enlarged substantially. Abortion issue has become more muted and less vocal. After focus on terror and national security issues, the public’s attention is now more on domestic legal issues particularly given the serious breakown of regulatory mechanism in Wall Street.
There is also a sense of populism against the excesses in every branch of American society (Wall Street, Polity, Hollywood). In this environment, there is confidence in the President and in Barack Obama as an individual. Finally, the election of the first non-white President, and his approving and moderate performance in the office has inspired a greater innate confidence and acceptance of non-whites as Supreme Court Justice.
Tags: ABC News, Justice David Souter, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama, The Washington Post, U.S. Supreme Court, Wall Street
