Public Wants SCOTUS Nomination Based on Experience Not Minority Status

As a followup to the post below comes a Fox News report (based on this poll) that shows the public favors picking a nominee based on experience.

"The latest FOX News poll shows nearly half of voters nationwide — 45 percent — think judicial experience should be the "single most important factor" in picking the next justice. Five percent say being a woman should be the single most important factor, 4 percent say being a minority and 4 percent say being a homosexual. About 1 in 10 people (12 percent) think sharing Barack Obama's views on key issues should be the single most important quality.

On the flip side, large majorities think it shouldn't matter whether the nominee is a woman (75 percent), a minority (75 percent) or a homosexual (66 percent). Far fewer, though still a large 47 percent minority, think it should not matter whether the nominee shares Obama's views."

This is further evidence that the public is not interested in turning the nomination process into some kind of grievance settlement with a particular minority group. They don't particularly care what minority group the nominee comes from or that it comes from one at all so long as that nominee is experienced and highly qualified.

The poll also has an interesting breakdown that further shows that Obama's view on judges is out of step with a majority of the public.

The trouble that Obama has run into in getting Dawn Johnson confirmed reinforces the poll data shown above. It should serve as a warning to the Obama administration as the confirmation process goes forward.