The Senate GOP's hardline opposition to hearings and a vote on a Supreme Court nominee is holding up — despite majority support for a vote this year — because the issue resonates with core voters without alienating those uninterested in the fight.
"Any time you are looking at an electorate where you want to ensure the base is motivated to support a candidate, an issue like this helps," political consultant Josh Holmes tells
The Wall Street Journal.
In the meantime, "by almost any measure that we've seen thus far, the voters who fall into that swing category that determine an election just aren't that interested in the Supreme Court fight," he adds.
According to a
Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released Monday, since President Barack Obama named moderate Judge Merrick Garland as his high court pick, public support for a Senate vote on confirming the nominee this year has gone up to 52 percent from 48 percent in early March, before the choice was announced.
On the flip side, the poll shows 75 percent of liberal Democrats want the Senate to vote this year on a Supreme Court replacement — down from 80 percent in March.
The Journal points to Wisconsin as an illustration of the point.
For GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, who's battling to keep his Senate seat this fall, his poll numbers went up after he stuck to his opposition to a vote or hearings on a high court nominee, the Journal notes.
In a
Marquette University Law School survey last month, Johnson's support rose to 42 percent, up from 37 percent in February. Among his supporters, 65 percent said the Senate shouldn't act on filling the Supreme Court vacancy until 2017, the survey finds.
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