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Republicans' Discontent With High Court Drives Down Its Poll Numbers
Obama leads Romney by a significant margin overall, on most issues.
By Steven Shepard
Updated: July 13, 2012 | 10:30 a.m. July 12, 2012 | 4:27 p.m.

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Negative opinions of the Supreme Court jumped in the wake of its ruling on the constitutionality of the 2010 health care law, according to a new Pew Research Center poll released on Thursday that shows the percentage who have an unfavorable opinion of the Court is higher than at any point since Pew began tracking it in 1985. Meanwhile, President Obama leads Mitt Romney in the poll, as voters now narrowly see Obama as the candidate who would do the best job of improving economic conditions, a significant change from last month.

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Fifty-one percent of all adults have a favorable opinion of the Court, statistically unchanged from April, when a Pew survey showed the Court's favorability rating at 52 percent. But the percentage holding an unfavorable view jumped to 37 percent, an 8-point increase from April, and a new high for Pew surveys. (PICTURES: Winners and Losers in Health Care Ruling) Democrats have a slightly-improved view of the Court: 64 percent view it favorably, compared to 52 percent in April. But the Court's standing among Republicans has plummeted, accounting for the overall decline. Now, 51 percent of Republicans have an unfavorable opinion of the Court, while just 38 percent have a favorable opinion. In April, 56 percent of Republicans viewed the Court favorably. The percentage of independents who view the Supreme Court unfavorably ticked up, from 31 percent in April to 38 percent now. But the percentage who have a favorable opinion in the recent survey, 51 percent, is unchanged from April. The poll was conducted June 28-July 9, beginning the night of the Court's decision to uphold most of the Obama administration's Affordable Care Act. Public opinion about the health care law has only changed slightly since the Court's decision, the poll shows. Now, 47 percent approve of the law, while 43 percent disapprove. That is slightly better than in a Pew poll
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Republicans' Discontent With High Court Drives Down Its Poll Numbers

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Republicans' Discontent With High Court Drives Down Its Poll Numbers...

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from earlier in June, when 43 percent approve and 48 percent disapproved. Eighty percent of Democrats approve of the law, while 83 percent of Republicans disapprove. Independents are split: 43 percent approve, compared with 46 percent who disapprove. The poll shows Obama leading Romney among registered voters, 50 percent to 43 percent, a single-digit, statistically significant advantage. Six percent of voters prefer another candidate or are undecided. Support for Romney has declined modestly since earlier in June, when Obama led, 50 percent to 46 percent. Obama wins 88 percent of Democrats, while Romney captures 89 percent of Republicans. Among independents, the two candidates are neck-and-neck, with Obama at 46 percent and Romney at 45. Democrats have a 6-percentage-point party-identification advantage among the poll's registered voters, accounting for Obama's overall advantage. Male voters are split: 47 percent prefer Obama, while 46 percent choose Romney. But Obama leads by 13 NationalJournal Magazine | NationalJournal among unmarried percentage points among women, 53 percent to 40 percent. That includes a wide leadDaily | Hotline | Almanac | NationalJournal Live women, 64 percent to 30 percent. About | Contact Us | Press Room | Staff Bios | Jobs | Reprints & Back Issues | Advertise | Privacy Policy Among white voters, Romney leads 54 percent to 40 percent. Obama actually holds a scant, 3-point edge among white voters who have a college degree, 50 percent to 47 percent. As 2012 by National Journal Groupstruggles Copyright in other surveys, Obama Inc. among blue-collar whites: Romney romps among non-college white voters, 58 percent to 35 percent. Black (91 percent) and Hispanic (65 percent) voters heavily favor the president. Obama's support is also firmer than Romney's. Overall, 32 percent of voters say they "strongly" support Obama, along with the 18 percent who support him "only moderately." Romney earns the strong support of just 15 percent of all voters, combined with 28 percent who say they are more tepid supporters. Romney supporters generally are more engaged, however. Seventy percent of those voters choosing Romney on the ballot test say they have given "quite a lot of thought" to the November election, compared with just 62 percent of Obama supporters. Romney has had a slight advantage on this measure since the spring. On the 12 issue areas Pew tested, Romney only has a significant advantage on one: reducing the federal budget deficit. Half of voters say he would do the best job of cutting the debt, compared to just 36 percent who pick Obama. But Obama leads on eight of the 12 issues, including reflecting voters' views on abortion and gay rights (Obama +14 points), defending against terrorist attacks (Obama +12), energy (Obama +12), health care (Obama +8), foreign policy (Obama +8), taxes (Obama +8), and improving economic conditions (Obama +6). Now, 48 percent of voters say that Obama would do the best job of improving economic conditions, versus 42 percent who choose Romney. Earlier in June, Romney held an 8-point advantage on this question, 49 percent to 41 percent. Neither candidate has a significant advantage on the issues of jobs (Romney +4), immigration (Obama +4), or selecting Supreme Court justices (Obama +5). Pew surveyed 2,973 adults, for a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points. That includes 2,373 registered voters; those results carry a margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points. Want to stay ahead of the curve? Sign up for National Journals AM & PM Must Reads. News and analysis to ensure you dont miss a thing.
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I love reading these comments you all somehow think you have a choice, mitt was chosen for the republicans as promoted and put forth by the media. Out of all the options and the whole nation,mitt romney? Really? And all of you peeing on yourselves about the healthcare ruling, guess what, welcome to Amerika and show them your papers, wait until one of your loved ones is culled out by a panel and dies because they were not worth treating, or wait until yosome of you oboma bots are jailed for failing to purchase you mandated coverage, ha ha ha. The fact that no one has walked up and put a couple pills in someones forehead speaks volumes. The country is lost, gone kaput, we are led by fear, driven by fear, we give up all of our liberty all of our privacy, honor and dignity because if we do not SOMETHING bad will happen to us. The truth is we have lost our constitutional republic, sorry Ben, and were too broke tired and cowardly to do anything about it so go on and vote for your R/D or D/R and please try to keep notes on all the change you get, a sticky note should do it. Late comrades.

So lemme see if I can get this straight: Americans view the U.S. Supreme Court unfavourably in light of them ruling that Obamacare is constitutional, when viewed as a tax. And yet, these same Americans approve of Obama, who shoved this bill down our throats to begin with? How much sense does that make? Probably about as much sense as approving of Mitt (Mittens) Romney, whose own health care bill was a model for Obama's.

Yeh..but LEFTARDS LOVE THE COURT NOW!!

Fascinating how Republicans think they own 5 justices on the Supreme Court and if they dare use independent judgment or vote on a case based on precedent which the Republicans don't like, they should be abused like a dog who soiled the carpet.

Love how it's "independent" judgement now that this decision went in liberals' favor, but all we heard for two months was how incredibly partisan this court was. You know how incredibly idiotic that makes YOU look, right?

The Supreme Court should not be concerned with poll numbers. Other branches are elected and re-elected, the justices are not. The should solely be concerned with whether a law passed by congress and signed by the president passes constitutional muster. There is nothing sacred about such a law, it has to fit within the constitution. Citizens with disagree about that. We have and odd number of justices so the majority can tell us who is right..

Roberts was concerned about perception about his court. In putting aside their real duties or interpreting the constitution rather than making political statements and law Roberts has

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assured that his court will be thought of different than any other courts in the past only in a far worse way than he ever envisioned.

And just how do you know why Roberts voted the way he did? Have you spoken with him? Has he spoken publicly about the matter?

Can you tell us why the Constitution, written in plain English, requires "interpretation?"

The Supreme Court judges have been acting more like some political activist instead of being the honorable guardians of the Constitution. The court is malfunction and is no longer Supreme.

It seems that many are beginning to realize that the "Supreme" court is nothing more than a collection of lawyers. Word twisting is their "profession," and it has become obvious. Little detail, the Constitution never gave them the "right" to decide constitutionality, just to decide cases arising under it. Read it yourself, far less than 2,000+ pages.

Take the Nationa Journal fpr what you wish, but take Rasmussen for accurate polling. Why is it that no, not one, liberal nespaper or website tells the truth? Is it because everytime they tell the truth they come out on the short end of the stick? So be it. Obama trails Romney and after the debates he will look like the amateur that he is. Hillary Clinton said the same thing four years ago.

Yes she did. And now she is working for him. Maybe Obama will find a position for Romney in 2013, like ambassador to the Cayman Islands.

Well Yeah when John Roberts ( the Traiter) votes with Obamass

John Roberts is not a traitor to the Republican Party because he is not owned by the Republican Party (unlike 3 of his colleagues).

No, he's a traitor to the Constitution. Like 4 of his liberal colleagues.

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All the SCOTUS is presiding over is the destruction of our Constitution.

The truth is that we are living in "Man's Day" 1 Cor. 4:3 Where mankind is given a free reign to show what the race is capable of accomplishing. Man is being tried under all conceivable circumstances. Mankind has tried every conceivable form of government from democracy to despotism, from socialism to plutocracy. Laws are made by the millions and broken by the billions every year. We continually reform accomplishing nothing. God is displaying His wisdom by human folly. Man's day will come to an end then it will be the Lord's Day Rev. 1:10 and nation will no longer lift up the sword against nation and rightousness will rule the earth Is. 2:4.

That Roberts wrote both the majority opinion and the dissent in the Obamakare case is astonishing. He lost the respect of his conservative colleagues and never had the respect of the liberals to begin with. It will be an act of treachery that he will be remembered for long after he is dead.

Well, gee whiz, Judge Roberts. Guess your little trick to "save the court's reputation" didn't work after all. Thanks. For nothing.

This is why we need a revolution to, among other things, get rid of the entire Supreme Court and start over. The Chief Justice is a fool and Elena Kagan is a political hack with no judicial experience or temperament. Amd Sonja Sotomayor comes close.

Of course Kagan has judicial experience. She has been on the US Supreme Court since 2010. Hmmm.. Judicial temperament... you mean like Scalia?

You're the only leftard here....why don't you go mow your lawn??

Because liberals don't work. They insist the government take money from someone else to give to them or in order to pay someone else to do the work that they ought to have been doing themselves. Like mowing their lawns.

The Founders would not be proud of what the Supreme Court has become. We all should stop and

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consider where the Nation is going and make very sure we vote with the Nation's future in mind, and not some single issue like race or abortion.

Amazing that you have personal knowledge of what the founders think about the current court Do you have a ouija board? Do you also know what they think about television, space travel, video games, the internet, and whether people should be able to own other people?

No, he has a brain and the ability to think and reason. But I can see how that might seem like a supernatural ability to a liberal.

The Surpreme Court was set up to be a nertral group of our most exsperanced law makers in our country to interpret problems in our laws.These judges are asked only one question does the law in question fit with in the frame work of our constitution.Ever since the aftermath of the civil war presidents and special intrest groups have pressured bullyed and stacked in there favor the Surprem Court to take sides on issues.This is the underlining problem with todays court

Ya think? The only thing worse than a confirmed liberal is a liberal posing as a conservative. Nothing Roberts ever does for the rest of his judicial career will make up for this one. He's toast on the conservative side. He's a liar.

What you are saying is that when the Republican party buys a justice, he needs to stay bought. If he thinks about issues, he has no place with the right wingers. I'm sure he is fine with that since he has lifetime tenure.

Right. Like when liberals such as Kagan, Sotomayor, Ginsburg, and Breyer stay bought off by the left. And, yes, Roberts has no place with the right-wingers anymore.

Hacks - abolish the court it is useless and seems to think that it has some right to write law... tool jusk, scrapheap of history, tear down the building and make a parking lot!

I wonder why the Supreme Courts poll numbers are down? They must have done something wrong.

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Start with Scalia, Thomas and Alito and build on that. Maybe if they don't have to go through a metal detector when they get to work, and maybe if they wear their robes on the drive in they could draw straws and um, sneak in some of those shave cream pies in the aluminum pie tins and when they strike that pose they always strike, just before the camera snaps their portrait, WHAM!

four rubber stamped liberal judges,the people have to get involved.The liberal are just using our labor and money.

Thomas, Alito and Scalia are rubber stamps. You just like the way those stamps look.

Make that five liberal judges. Roberts ain't no conservative.

Really could it be because they do nothing positive for citizens?They only serve foreign interests not those they pretend to protect and serve.

by what lunacy do you see the manchurian candidate leading on all issues by a significant margin? in all the national polls he is barely hanging on and his actually behing in alot of the non biased polling co's. such as gallup. gallup says your man will win 7 states i say less than that. likie carter he only won one by a squeaker and they were not as angry back then i know i was there, this guy has angered so many americans of all races. it is going to be a titanic by nov. whats funny is to see the rats fleeing the ship. alot of dems are not even showing up for his cornat

Unless Romney really blows it by choosing a RINO like Condi, he can win this in a flipping landslide. I do not believe the polls. People are STILL afraid of sounding like a racist ---for the same reason they voted for BHO in 2008-----and therefore they are LYING. Again. If Romney does not do something stupid, he can win.

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