Polls

PPP Newsletter: Americans Want Swift Confirmation of Biden Nominee

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A new PPP national survey, done in conjunction with Demand Justice, finds that 64% of voters want the US Senate to confirm Joe Biden’s eventual nominee to the Supreme Court with only 22% opposed to confirmation. In a time when the country is pretty closely divided about most everything that represents a pretty lopsided gap in public opinion. In addition to near unanimous support from Democrats for confirming Biden’s pick 72% of independents and even 35% of Republicans favor it, an unusual level of bipartisan agreement these days.

In addition to supporting confirmation of Biden’s nominee, voters want to see the US Senate act quickly on the nomination and they want President Biden to keep his campaign pledge to appoint a Black woman to the seat. 61% think his chosen nominee should be confirmed quickly without delay to only 26% who disagree. And 48% think a Black woman should be nominated with only 31% opposed.

The survey mirrored other recent polls in finding that President Biden is not terribly popular, with 40% of voters approving of the job he’s doing to 49% who disapprove. What gets less attention is just how incredibly unpopular a figure Mitch McConnell is on the national level- just 16% of voters give him good marks with 68% expressing a negative view. Republican Senate candidates across the country this year will have to contend with voters’ aversion to his again becoming one of the most powerful men in the country.

More from the Supreme Court survey can be seen here

Another recent PPP poll of Virginia, done in conjunction with Protect Our Care, finds that just because the state voted Republican last fall doesn’t mean voters want a lax approach to handling COVID. Virginians still support mask mandates 60-35, they still support vaccine mandates 55-39, and they disagree with Glenn Youngkin’s executive order removing the mask mandate in public schools 40-55.

Usually when a state elects a new Governor that person gets a pretty strong honeymoon period with voters rallying around their leadership at least at the start of their term. Perhaps because of his cavalier attitude toward COVID Youngkin is getting no such boost- only 44% of voters approve of him to 42% who disapprove. His net approval rating basically reflects his margin of victory in November, suggesting that his first few weeks of leadership haven’t won over anyone who didn’t already vote for him.

More from the Virginia survey can be seen here

Finally PPP recently polled on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in conjunction with People For The American Way and found strong support for it in both Arizona (53/28) and West Virginia (50/38).

Because of their unwillingness to vote with the rest of their Senate Democratic colleagues to make passage of the voting rights package possible, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin now have some pretty unusual splits in their favorability numbers. Sinema stands at 66/18 with Trump voters but 18/74 with her party’s base of Biden voters, making her chances of ever being nominated to office as a Democrat again unlikely. Manchin is at 68/24 with Trump voters and 19/77 with Biden voters.

It’s been a busy first month of the year at PPP, polling races all over the country including helping our clients get first looks at where things stand in brand new Congressional and legislative districts. We are always available to help our clients poll races or issues anywhere on the map, from big states to small districts, and if we can help you with anything please feel free to get in touch

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