Whelan cherry picks polling to suggest Kagan nomination is unpopular

Ed Whelan highlighted a Rasmussen Reports assertion that "[v]oters have an increasingly unfavorable opinion of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan" based on a recent Rasmussen poll. In fact, Rasmussen's findings are contradicted by other recent polls.

In a National Review Online blog post titled " 'Increasingly Unfavorable Opinion' of Kagan," Whelan stated: “By a margin of 47% to 41%, voters hold an unfavorable rather than a favorable view of Kagan.” Whelan also claimed: “Voters also oppose Kagan's confirmation by a 3-point margin, 39% to 36%.” Both these findings are contradicted by other polls. For instance, as noted by Pollingreport.com a Quinnipiac University poll of registered voters conducted between May 19-24 found that 48 percent of respondents “approved ... of President Obama's nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court,” compared to 30 percent who disapproved.

In addition, a May 18-19 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll of registered voters found that 39 percent of respondents said that they would vote to confirm Kagan's nomination, compared to 29 percent who said they would vote against her nomination. The Fox News poll also found that 45 percent of respondents said that Kagan “is qualified to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court” compared to 26 percent who said she was not qualified.

Just another reason why you shouldn't trust Whelan's attacks on Kagan or other judicial nominees.