December 21, 2005

In other Alito nomination news, a new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds that 54 percent of the American public thinks Judge Alito should be confirmed to the high bench, up from 49 percent in November. 55 percent of Americans supported now-Chief Justice John Roberts on the eve of his confirmation hearings.

William F. Buckley famously remarked that he'd rather be governed by individuals selected at random in the Boston phone book than by Harvard's faculty. While being a Supreme Court justice obviously requires a very high level of intellectual rigor and professional competence, it is quite interesting that the public's view of this nomination is so different from, say, the Yale Law School's Alito Project. Ironic, perhaps, but not surprising.