Race

Race has returned as a topic of discussion. We had Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, we had her role in a decision concerning promotion of firefighters, and of course the recent brief arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. What people know or think about race is, of course, heavily influenced by their own race or personal experiences.

There is no survey data out yet on the Gates arrest, but there are some good questions over time that attempt to tap what we think about affirmative action and other racial/ethnic issues. Pollingreport has this group of results that are interesting to skim. Scroll down to the NBC/Wall Street Journal results. The percentage of people who say affirmative action should be ended dropped in the latest survey, which I find kinda interesting. In 1995, 40 percent said it should be ended. It hit a high of 43 percent in 2003 but earlier this year it was down to 28 percent. That's a helluva drop, no doubt tied to the Sotomayor nomination.

Perhaps the Obama election led to a dramatic shift, but I thought the firefighter case might offset some of that. Apparently not. About one-third of Americans, according to a CNN poll, thought there should have been a new test, roughly the number seen among those who want an end to affirmative action. A shift has happened, and I suppose Obama's election may have played a major part. It'll be interesting to see the numbers in a year or so to see whether this is a statistical blip in what people think about race, or it's something more permanent.

Sotomayor

What do people know about Obama's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court? A little, enough at least to offer an opinion. About one-in-five were "unsure" in offering an opinion about Sonia Sotomayor, according to one national poll. Only about a quarter of all polled had a negative opinion of her -- hardly good news for the GOPers hoping to challenge her nomination to the high court.

But here's some good news if you're Rush Limbaugh -- yes the Dems like her, yes Republicans don't (big surprise), but among self-described "Independents" a quarter of them had a negative opinion. That's kinda interesting and it leaves a window of opportunity for the Hannities of the world to define her as they see fit.

Painting her as a racist is going to be interesting given the people waving the paint brush (Limbaugh, Gingrich, et. al). Irony, much? You want racism, look at our chief justice's history. But I doubt that'll come up on Fox News.

Anyway, the numbers suggest this may not be the slam dunk the Obama folks hoped for. If I were betting then I'd place serious money on her getting through, but there may be a little blood in the water and the sharks are starting to get a bit frenzied. And don't ya know the cable news talking heads will froth at the mouth.