Pennsylvania is full of scathing coverage on Pat Toomey’s partisan decision to obstruct the constitutional process of filling the Supreme Court vacancy. Throughout the last week, we’ve flooded your inbox with fact-checks, editorials, columns and letters calling-out Toomey’s indefensible position.
And in a new poll yesterday, the press was validated with data; an overwhelming 76% of Pennsylvanians disagree with Toomey on the Supreme Court, and the Senator has just a 29% approval in the Keystone State. It can’t get much worse. But with the continued onslaught of negative media, Toomey’s numbers are only trending down.
** PA Coverage of New Poll **
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Voters overrule Toomey’s Supreme Court objection
Voters are overruling Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey’s objection to filling a vacancy on the Supreme Court this year, polls released Monday showed.
A poll by left-leaning Public Policy Polling showed 57 percent of Pennsylvanians thought the vacancy created by Justice Antonin Scalia’s Feb. 13 death should be filled this year, while 40 percent thought it should be left open until the next president takes office.
… Toomey argued last week that Obama “should put off a decision on (Scalia’s) replacement until the newly elected president can make his or her choice … it makes sense to give the American people a more direct say in this critical decision.”
If Obama chooses not to wait, Toomey said, “his nominee will be rejected by the Senate.”
Public Policy Polling said 76 percent of respondents thought the Senate should wait to see who Obama nominates before deciding whether or not to confirm the person.
Sunbury Daily Item: Poll: Voters send Toomey a Supreme signal
A majority of Pennsylvanians think the vacant seat on the Supreme Court caused by Justice Scalia’s death, should be filled this year — and that opinion could pose a problem for U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey.
Toomey, who has represented Pennsylvania since 2011 and seeks re-election this year, said “the next Court appointment should be made by the newly-elected president.”
However, the results of a Public Policy Polling survey released Monday are clear: just 29 percent of voters surveyed approve overall of the job Toomey is doing to 40 percent who disapprove.
Meanwhile, 60 percent of Pennsylvania independents polled said a new Justice should be named this year.
Those independent voters are going to make the difference in a tight Senate race, and they have no tolerance for obstructionism on the vacancy.
Voters are particularly angry about Senators taking the stance that they’re not going to approve anyone before even knowing who President Obama decides to put forward.
By a 76-to-20 spread, Pennsylvania voters think the Senate should wait to see who is nominated to the Court before deciding whether or not to confirm.
… This is an issue that really does have the potential to make Toomey’s life even harder this fall if he doesn’t change his tune.
Calkins Media (Beaver Co., Bucks Co., Uniontown): Poll: Sen. Toomey’s refusal to vote on Scalia replacement hurts him with Pennsylvania voters
As Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey’s approval rating hovers under 30 percent, his refusal to vote on a Supreme Court nominee could hurt him even more in the general election, according to a new poll released Monday.
Only 29 percent of those surveyed by the North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm, approved of the job Toomey is doing, compared to 40 percent who disapproved and 31 percent who were not sure.
… Seventy-six percent of those surveyed agreed that the Senate “should wait to see who is nominated to the Supreme Court before deciding whether to confirm that person,” according to PPP. A follow-up question asked if Toomey’s refusal to confirm a replacement for Scalia this year, “no matter who it was,” would make voters more or less likely to vote for the senator this fall.
Over half, 52 percent, said less likely while 25 percent said more likely and 20 percent said it would not make a difference. PPP noted that 55 percent of independents said they would be less likely to vote for him.
Scranton Times-Tribune: Kelly’s World Blog: New Poll Says Toomey In Supreme Peril
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Koch Brothers, is whistling past the political graveyard as he falls in line with GOP obstructionists whose reverence for the Constitution depends upon who happens to be president in this hot minute, according to a new poll by Public Policy Polling.
… The results here look grim for Mr. Toomey:
Just 29 percent approve of his job performance, as opposed to 40 percent who disapprove. Sen. McConnell, to whom Mr. Toomey has chained himself, has a 56 percent unfavorable rating in Pennsylvania. We are judged by the company we keep.
Also, 57 percent of Pennsylvania voters believe Justice Scalia’s seat should be filled this year, and a whopping 76 percent said the Senate is derelict in saying it will reject any Obama nominee, regardless of who he puts up. Keystone State voters apparently see the GOP’s latest quixotic crusade for what it is — a cynical, self-defeating exercise in futility.
Mr. Toomey obviously gleans a different message from the political tea leaves. Among other tone-deaf statements, he has said it is “no big deal” to leave a Supreme Court seat empty indefinitely. Come January, he may have a different perspective.
Politics PA: PPP Poll: Just 29% Approve of Toomey’s Job Performance
The Supreme Court vacancy caused by Justice Scalia’s death has left Sen. Toomey in a bit of a bind.
That’s the conclusion of the latest Public Policy Polling survey which found the Senator with an underwater approval rating.
Just 29% approve of the job the Senator is doing while 40% disapprove. 31% are unsure.
… Toomey’s poor numbers may partly be the result of his stance on the Supreme Court vacancy.
** Recent PA Press Clips on Toomey & SCOTUS **
Scranton Times-Tribune: Editorial: Toomey strict obstructionist:
According to Mr. Toomey, ‘it’s no big deal’ to leave the court with a vacancy because the court will not tackle much new work in the current term. But his policy would maintain the vacancy through the new term that begins on the first Monday of October — when the court sets its agenda. That would be a very big deal indeed.
If the next president makes the nomination and the average time passes until confirmation, the Scalia seat will have been vacant for 415 days. The average vacancy is 67 days
…The length of the proposed vacancy alone proves the level of obstruction at play. Mr. Toomey’s position is baloney. He should abandon it.
Citizens Voice: Editorial: Cheers and Jeers:
Jeers to U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pennsylvania, for joining fellow Republicans in vowing to block any Supreme Court nominee put forward by President Barack Obama. These self-professed defenders of the Constitution have a bad habit of ignoring the document when it conflicts with their political interests.
Reading Eagle: Editorial: No good reason to wait on a new Supreme Court justice:
If Senate Republicans’ argument is that they owe it to the nation to guard against a nominee who is unfit for the high court, they have every right and, in fact an obligation, to reject such a nominee.
But the idea that obstruction in and of itself is the way to go, under these or any circumstances, is not a reasonable way for the Senate to undertake its duty to provide advice and consent.
PennLive: Op-Ed: With SCOTUS opposition, Toomey and GOP are galvanizing voters – just not theirs:
Toomey is now trapped into supporting McConnell’s position. On his own record of being open to bipartisan cooperation, Toomey was not so scary to mainstream Democrats. Now he’s moved back to the right any may have opened the door to an ideological trap not of his own making.
Allentown Morning Call: Op-Ed: Scalia vacancy claim is Republican urban legend:
Republicans wasted no time warning that the Senate GOP majority wouldn’t allow President Obama to replace Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and that it was perfectly ordinary to put judicial appointments on hold with 11 months to go in a president’s term.
Sen. Pat Toomey was among the GOP politicians hoping people would buy this urban myth.
Reading Eagle: Op-Ed: Five reasons why Obama’s Supreme Court nominee deserves a hearing:
Several Republicans, including Toomey, have argued that it’s common for presidents in the final year of their administrations to forgo nominating someone to the high court, leaving that to their successor. That’s simply not true.
Allentown Morning Call: Letter: Sen. Toomey harms Constitution:
Sen. Toomey, in announcing he won’t even consider an appointment until 2017, is doing a disservice to his constituents and to his constitutional duty.
Reading Eagle: Letter: Toomey lost this vote:
Sen. Pat Toomey would like citizens of the United States to wait until a new president is elected rather than even considering allowing President Barack Obama to fulfill his constitutional duty to nominate someone to replace Justice Antonin Scalia.
…Scalia wasn’t even in his grave. His family had only a short time to grieve. Yet within minutes the Republican Party was telling Obama not to bother nominating anyone to replace the justice. Unbelievable. Toomey just lost my vote.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Letter: Toomey’s court position rankles:
If Toomey hasn’t been keeping track, Obama still has 11 months left to serve in his term.
Further, Toomey jumping on the anti-nomination bandwagon makes us wonder about the sincerity of his comments made on the Senate floor just a few weeks ago when he said filling federal judicial vacancies has been a priority of his since he came to the Senate.
The president has said he will do his job and put forth a nominee. Senator, if you want us to believe you are able to rise above the gridlock and work in a bipartisan way when it comes to federal judicial nominations, do your job as well.
Allentown Morning Call: Letter: Sen. Toomey’s shows his partisanship on Supreme Court vacancy:
Sen. Toomey’s statement explaining why he will join the Republican leadership in blocking any nomination to the Supreme Court for the next 11 months has shown his constituents that he has no desire to rise above partisanship in this election year; in doing so, he has told the people of the commonwealth that their votes do not matter
…There is nothing common about the GOP’s plan to block a nomination before a nominee has been put forth. Clearly, the senator who wants us to believe he has absolute love for the Constitution has nothing but contempt for it when the situation suits him. It should be a very interesting election season for the current senator.
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