If Harriet Miers is an unknown to most members of Congress, then she must be even more obscure to the general public. Yet, most people are willing, even at this early stage, to express an opinion -- although an opinion highly conditioned by their partisan orientation.

Overall, 44% of Americans rate President George W. Bush's choice of Miers to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court as "excellent" or "good," while 41% rate the choice as "only fair" or "poor."

Generally speaking, how would you rate Bush's choice of [name of nominee] as a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court -- as excellent, good, only fair, or poor?

	Excellent	Good	Only fair	Poor	No opinion
Harriet Miers (2005 Oct 3-4)	11%	33	25	16	15
John Roberts (2005 Jul 20)	25%	26	20	14	15

This is a somewhat lower rating than what Chief Justice John Roberts received when he was nominated to the Supreme Court in July. Fifty-one percent gave him a high rating, 34% a low rating.

Not unexpectedly, Miers' rating is highly related to people's partisan orientation. Overwhelmingly, Republicans give her a high rating (72% excellent or good, just 16% fair or poor), while Democrats give her a low rating (24% excellent or good, 62% fair or poor). Independents are evenly divided: 41% give her a high rating and 41% a low rating.

Generally speaking, how would you rate Bush's choice of Harriet Miers as a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court -- as excellent, good, only fair, or poor?

*Harriet Miers*	Excellent/ Good	Only fair/ Poor	No opinion
	%	%	%
Overall	44	41	15

Republicans	72	16	12
Independents	41	41	18
Democrats	24	62	14

Similarly, more people had positive first impressions of Roberts than of Miers. Forty-two percent say their "first impressions" of Miers are positive, compared with 54% who felt positively about Roberts.

How would you describe your first impressions of [name of candidate]? Would you say they are -- [ROTATED: very positive, somewhat positive, neither positive nor negative, somewhat negative, (or) very negative]?

	Very positive	Somewhat positive	Neither	Somewhat negative	Very negative	No opinion
Miers (2005 Oct 3-4)	14%	28	34	10	4	10
Roberts (2005 Jul 20)	26%	28	21	8	7	10

Again, these views are highly related to partisan orientation. Sixty-seven percent of Republicans have positive first impressions of Miers, compared with 40% of independents and just 26% of Democrats.

How would you describe your first impressions of Harriet Miers? Would you say they are -- [ROTATED: very positive, somewhat positive, neither positive nor negative, somewhat negative, (or) very negative]?

*Harriet Miers*	Positive	Neither	Negative	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
Overall	42	34	14	10

Republicans	67	21	7	5
Independents	40	36	13	11
Democrats	26	42	22	10

Conservatives Less Supportive of Miers Than of Roberts

The poll shows that the lower ratings received by Miers than Roberts are due principally to the opinions of conservatives. While moderates and liberals are about as likely to rate Miers as an "excellent" or "good" choice as they are to rate Roberts that way, conservatives are considerably less likely to give Miers the high rating.

Percentage Rating Each Candidate as an "Excellent" or "Good" Choice

	Roberts	Miers	Difference
	%	%	Pct. pts.
Conservatives	77	58	-19
Moderates	46	43	- 3
Liberals	17	23	+ 6

Similarly, when asked their first impressions of the two candidates, conservatives are much less likely to say their first impressions of Miers are positive (57%) than they were to say they had positive impressions of Roberts (77%). Moderates are also less positive about Miers, but the difference between their views of Roberts and Miers is just 14 points, compared with the 20-point difference among conservatives. Liberals are about as positive about Miers (26%) as they were about Roberts (23%).

Percentage Saying They Have "Positive" First Impressions
of Each Candidate

	Roberts	Miers	Difference
	%	%	Pct. pts.
Conservatives	77	57	-20
Moderates	53	39	-14
Liberals	23	26	+ 3

Miers' Gender of Little Impact on Public Support

One of the defining characteristics of Miers' nomination is that so few people know much about her legal views. Having never served as a judge, and having been Bush's legal confidante for most of the past decade, Miers has left virtually no "paper trail" of opinions for observers to study. The public views this lack of a legal record as much more negative than positive.

Thinking about Harriet Miers' background, does each of the following make you -- [ROTATED: more likely to support her nomination, does it make no difference to you, or does it make you less likely to support her nomination]? How about -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

2005 Oct 3-4 (sorted by "more likely")	More likely	No difference	Less likely	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
She is a woman	29	66	5	*
She has close personal ties to George W. Bush	16	38	44	2
Her views on most major issues are not known	12	33	49	6
She has never served as a judge	10	42	46	2
* Less than 0.5%

Most people, 66%, are neither positive nor negative about the fact that Miers is a woman. But 29% say her gender makes them more likely to support her candidacy, while just 5% say it makes them less likely to support her.

A separate question finds that only 18% of Americans would have been upset if Bush had not nominated a woman.

The other three characteristics -- her close personal ties to Bush, the fact that her views on most issues are not known, and the lack of service as a judge -- are all perceived by the public as net negative marks on her candidacy.

Women are more likely than men to be impressed with Miers because she is a woman. Nineteen percent of men say her gender makes them more likely to support her, compared with 37% of women who feel that way. Partisan differences are relatively minor.
Miers' close personal ties to Bush are much more objectionable to Democrats than to Republicans, with 68% of Democrats saying these ties make them less likely to support her, compared with 47% of independents who feel that way, and just 11% of Republicans.
Miers' lack of a public record also bothers Democrats more than it does Republicans -- 63% of Democrats say this factor makes them less likely to support her, while 46% of independents and 36% of Republicans agree.
Some of Miers' supporters are touting her lack of experience as a judge in positive terms, saying it would give the court more breadth of experience. Most Americans, however, do not accept that point of view. Her lack of judicial experience causes 58% of Democrats to be less supportive of her candidacy, compared with 45% of independents and 32% of Republicans.

Similar to what people expressed about the Roberts candidacy this year, and the Clarence Thomas candidacy in 1991, a majority of Americans, 55%, believe that senators should insist that Miers explain her views on abortion during the hearings on her nomination, while 42% disagree.

When the U.S. Senate holds hearings on the [name of nominee] nomination, do you think senators should insist that he/she explain his/her views on abortion before confirming him/her, or should he/she be allowed to refuse to answer questions about abortion?

	Insist he/she explain his/her views	Allowed to refuse to answer	No opinion
	%	%	%
Harriet Miers (2005 Oct 3-4)	55	42	3
John Roberts (2005 Jul 22-24)	61	37	2
Clarence Thomas (1991 Jul 11-14)	54	39	7

Again, these views are highly related to partisan orientation: 68% of Democrats believe Miers should be required to state her views on abortion, compared with 57% of independents, and just 39% of Republicans.

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