Poll: Plurality back Sotomayor court bid

With the Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor set to begin on Monday, a recent poll shows general support for her bid for the top court.

According to CNN and the Opinion Research Corp., 47% of respondents support Sotomayor compared to 40% against her and 13% unsure. The most revealing part of the survey, however, is the vast partisan divide over the federal appeals court judge vying to be the first Latina on the Supreme Court. Though such a disparity between Republicans and Democrats is typical for Supreme Court nominees, it implies that several ugly accusations against her may be working:

The poll suggests a partisan divide, with nearly seven in 10 Democrats supporting Sotomayor's confirmation, Independents split, and nearly two out of three Republicans opposing Senate confirmation…

"Republican opposition to Sotomayor's confirmation is a higher level of opposition from the party out of power than any Supreme Court nominee has faced in the past two decades," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

The survey also found that most people expect plenty of fireworks to occur at next week’s hearings; several notable names appear on the list of witnesses planning to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Among those witness opposed to Sotomayor are conservative commentator and failed Department of Labor nominee Linda Chavez as well as Frank Ricci- the former Connecticut firefighter whose discrimination case was thrown out in a ruling by a panel of judges that included Sotomayor.

Prominent Latino Rep. Jose Serrano and Nydia Velázquez will testify for Sotomayor as well as New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and ex-FBI head Louis Freeh.

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Online Sources- boston.com, CNN, New York Times, Politico.com, AP