With Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s Senate confirmation hearing set to start today, she is still an unfamiliar figure to most Americans, according to a poll released Thursday by C-SPAN.
Only 19 percent of those polled could name Kagan when asked the open-ended question “Can you identify the individual just named by President Obama to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court?” By contrast, in a similar poll last year, 43 percent were able to name Sonia Sotomayor, who may have greater name recognition as the first Hispanic nominee in history. Once given Kagan’s name, 38 percent said they support her nomination, 30 percent oppose, and 33 percent said they don’t care.
