Just ahead of President Joe Biden departing for Camp David this weekend to focus on reviewing potential nominees for the U.S. Supreme Court, a Yahoo News/YouGov poll came out that touched upon Americans' thoughts on the selective, discriminatory criteria the president is using to pick his nominee.
Shortly after it was leaked that Justice Stephen Breyer was retiring from the Court, Biden doubled down on his campaign promise to nominate a Black woman as his replacement. The White House has continued to tout this promise.
The poll asked numerous questions about the Court, including "How important is it to you that Joe Biden nominates a Black woman to the Supreme Court?" A plurality of respondents, at 36 percent, say it's "Not at all important." Overall, a majority at 55 percent think it's "Not at all important" or "Not very important (19 percent)."
Females were overall split, with 49 percent saying it was "Very/somewhat important," while 50 percent saying it was not important. Among those demographics who consider it important include those 18-29 years old (51 percent), Blacks (75 percent), Hispanics (57 percent), Democrats (80 percent) and Biden voters (75 percent).
Other questions had far more foreboding results for the president. For instance, when asked "How much confidence do you have that President Biden will select the right kind of person to replace Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court," a plurality said they had "very little/none" confidence, at 40 percent. This included the 25 percent who said they had "none" when it comes to confidence. Thirty-three percent said they have "a great deal/quite a bit" of confidence.
As is the case with Americans overall, which is 14 percent, significant amounts of demographics are uncertain.
Among those demographics who have confidence include Blacks (49 percent-14 percent), Hispanics (34-29 percent), Democrats (67 percent), and Biden voters (75 percent).
It's worth noting that those who are not confident say they are with greater intensity than those who are confident. For instance, just 10 percent of Republicans and 6 percent of Trump voters are at all confident.
The poll also asked respondents their thoughts on whether certain potential nominees, announced nominees, or justices were qualified. This includes Judge J. Michelle Childs, who is on the U.S. Circuit Appeals Court for South Carolina.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) who made headlines last month for expressing his support of Biden's criteria, has a particular interest in Judge Childs.
During his Sunday appearance on ABC's "This Week," Graham told host George Stephanopoulos. "I think she's the one that would get the most Republican votes," about Childs. "I would be very inclined support her because of her background. She didn't go to Harvard and Yale, which I think is a plus. She went to University of South Carolina. But we will wait and see what President Biden does."
The poll was conducted from Feb. 3-7 with 1,628 U.S. adults and a margin of error of approximately plus or minus 2.7 percent.
As I covered late last month, an ABC News/Ipsis poll had shown Americans were not too keen on Biden limiting his selection to Black women. Seventy six percent of Americans wanted Biden to "Consider All Possible Nominees" as opposed to the 23 percent who wanted him to go about the way he is doing his selection.
Biden is at Camp David reviewing such materials while the world waits to see if Russia will invade Ukraine. A Saturday morning phone call between Biden and Vladimir Putin has had dueling accounts and is said to have not changed the trajectory.
