Majorities oppose Supreme Court’s abortion ruling and worry about other rights

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Majorities of Americans say they disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, think it was politically motivated, are concerned the court will now reconsider rulings that protect other rights, and are more likely to vote for a candidate this fall who would restore the right to an abortion, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. Still, a majority opposes expanding the number of justices who could sit on the Supreme Court. …

This issue presents volatility into the 2022 midterms, because 78% of Democrats say the court’s decision makes them more likely to vote this fall, 24 points higher than Republicans. …

Democrats have regained the favor of voters to control Congress, with 48% saying they are more likely to vote for a Democratic candidate in the fall and 41% more likely to vote for a Republican. CONTINUED

Domenico Montanaro, NPR News

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Majority of Americans think Supreme Court overturning Roe was more about politics than law

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With confidence in the Supreme Court falling, more than half of Americans oppose the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and nearly six in 10 say the ruling was based more on politics than on the law, according to the latest poll from the PBS NewsHour, NPR and Marist. Conducted in days following the decision, this latest poll also found that more than half of Americans are concerned that the Supreme Court will reconsider issues such as contraception and same-sex marriage. CONTINUED

Laura Santhanam, PBS NewsHour

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More than 1 million voters switch to GOP in warning for Dems

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See AP’s July 7, 2022, update to this article.

A political shift is beginning to take hold across the U.S. as tens of thousands of suburban swing voters who helped fuel the Democratic Party’s gains in recent years are becoming Republicans.

More than 1 million voters across 43 states have switched to the Republican Party over the last year, according to voter registration data analyzed by The Associated Press … But nowhere is the shift more pronounced — and dangerous for Democrats — than in the suburbs, where well-educated swing voters who turned against Trump’s Republican Party in recent years appear to be swinging back. CONTINUED

Steve Peoples & Aaron Kessler, Associated Press

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Roe ruling shows complex relationship between court, public

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The Supreme Court ruling to overturn its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision is unpopular with a majority of Americans — but did that matter?

The relationship between the public and the judiciary has been studied and debated by legal and political scholars. The short answer: it’s complicated. There’s evidence that the public has an indirect role in the judiciary, but that might be changing.

In the final opinion, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the court “cannot allow our decisions to be affected by any extraneous influences such as concern about the public’s reaction to our work.” CONTINUED

Hannah Fingerhut, Associated Press

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Democrats still have this glimmer of hope for the midterm elections

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President Joe Biden can’t avoid a bad midterm election. But with a boost last week from the US Supreme Court, he still might avoid the worst.

A bad election means losing the Democratic majority in the US House of Representatives, which his own party’s strategists now consider virtually certain. A Republican-controlled House would roadblock his legislative agenda, investigate his administration and family, and perhaps even impeach him – notwithstanding the absence of legitimate cause.

The worst means losing the Senate, too. Returned to the job of majority leader, Mitch McConnell could deny Biden the ability to fill top administration jobs and judicial vacancies – including any potential vacancy on the Supreme Court.

Both outcomes will be shaped by the same atmospheric conditions, which for months have strongly favored the GOP. But fortunately for the beleaguered Biden, critical House and Senate contests sometimes move in different ways. CONTINUED

John Harwood, CNN

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A historically unpopular Supreme Court made a historically unpopular decision

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This week, the US Supreme Court delivered its most controversial decision in at least a decade. The ruling to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that established a constitutional right to an abortion may have major electoral consequences in this year’s midterm elections.

I covered the political impact in part in a prior column. But the court’s actions in this case may do something more than just affect the elections this year.

The Supreme Court’s own reputation is at stake, and the decision to get rid of Roe v. Wade and to upset the status quo comes at a very sensitive time for the justices in a different court: the one of public opinion. CONTINUED

Harry Enten, CNN

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