Americans have apparently taken sides in the heated fight over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and are ready to reward — or punish — their representatives for their vote.
The latest Pew Research Center survey found that the Supreme Court has pushed aside the economy and healthcare as the number one issue on the minds of voters, a critical first-time shift just days from a Senate vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation and a little over a month before the congressional midterm elections.
“Large majorities of voters in both parties view Supreme Court appointments as a ‘very important’ voting issue,” said Pew. The survey analysis added:
- Overall, 76 percent of registered voters – including 81 percent who support the Democratic candidate and 72 percent who favor the Republican candidate – say appointments to the court will be very important to their vote this fall. Among all voters, Supreme Court appointments rank with health care (75 percent) and the economy (74 percent) among the top voting issues.
- More voters view Supreme Court appointments as a very important issue today than did so in June 2016, during the presidential election. At that time, 65 percent of voters (70 percent of Republicans and 62 percent of Democrats) said Supreme Court appointments were very important to their votes.
Pew also suggested that court picks haven’t been the top issue before, or certainly leading into a critical election where control of Congress is at stake. “While health care and the economy typically rank among the top issues for voters, there is no trend to past midterms on the importance of court appointments,” said Pew.
Advocates on both sides of the aisle have been warning their senators that their vote will be critical in how they help or hurt in the upcoming campaign. Republican pundits, for example, have been warning GOP lawmakers that if Kavanaugh is not approved, they will recommend supporters to abandon the party.
