Crossing the Pond and Straddling the Aisle

Roberts Isn't on Most Radars

As Washington gears up for its first Supreme Court nomination hearings in more than a decade, a new poll suggests what many politicos have already begun to suspect: With all that's in the news these days, much of the public isn't paying attention.

The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press reported last week that just 18 percent of the public said they were following John G. Roberts Jr.'s nomination to chief justice "very" closely. An additional 26 percent said they were following it "fairly" closely. More than half -- 54 percent -- said they were not paying much or any attention to the story.

That compared with the 71 percent who said they were following news stories on gasoline prices "very" closely. A similar share -- 70 percent -- said they were following Hurricane Katrina stories "very" closely. Those two stories were among the closest watched since 1986, the survey said, ranking alongside reports on the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the 1992 Rodney King verdict and the ensuing riots in Los Angeles. Approximately a third of the respondents said they were paying most attention to stories on Iraq.

"I wouldn't expect there to be a great deal of public interest" in this week's hearings, said Carroll Doherty, an associate director at Pew. "If there's controversy, it'll break through some. But we're looking at the coverage competing with the coverage with maybe the greatest natural disaster in the nation's history. So it may well be overshadowed."

A plurality backed Roberts, with 35 percent saying they supported him and 19 percent opposed. But nearly half -- 46 percent -- did not offer an opinion on his nomination.

A Four-Way Race to the N.Y. Polls

Their primary is only two days away, but it's still hardly clear whom Democrats will put up this fall to challenge New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (R).

A new WNBC-Marist College poll found former Bronx borough president Fernando Ferrer, the longtime front-runner, barely ahead with 34 percent. But the most notable fact in the poll was the surge by Rep. Anthony D. Weiner, who started the race barely registering in polls but was commanding 27 percent in the latest. City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields trailed with 14 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

The obvious fluidity of the race may produce more uncertainty: Unless someone wins 40 percent of the vote, there will be a runoff to determine the nominee on Sept. 27. The city is overwhelmingly Democratic, but the well-funded Republican mayor -- who is seeking a second term in November -- has trounced each of the possible challengers in other polls.