Grassley sees SCOTUS vacancy losing steam as campaign issue

SIGOURNEY - He expects his refusal to hold hearings on President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee to continue to be an issue sin his re-election campaign, but Sen. Chuck Grassley thinks the issue is losing steam on the national level.

Folks at a Sigourney town meeting with the six-term Republicans seemed to agree with his position to let the next president fill the vacancy on the nine-member court.

'But I think it would be wrong to draw conclusions from my town meetings because I tend to have a larger share of Republicans than Democrats coming to my town meetings,” Grassley said after the meetings with more than 50 people at the Keokuk County Courthouse.

However, he believes attitudes have changed since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February created an opening.

'Early on, in March and April, there was a lot more support for having hearings than not having hearings,” Grassley said. 'The trend lately has been in the other direction.”

He expects his Democratic opponent, who will be chosen in the June 7 primary election, will continue to try to make it an issue, but based on calls received by his office, Iowans 'very definitely are coming around in my favor.”

That's also the conclusion of a poll conducted for the Judicial Crisis Network, which agrees with Grassley's position. According to the statewide poll of 500 registered voters consistent with current party registration, North Star Opinion Research found that Iowans are not following the issues closely. Obama's nominee, Judge Merrick Garland has 31 percent name recognition - 11 percent favorable and 9 percent unfavorable with a margin of error of 4 percent.

The poll found 47 percent unsure whether Garland should be confirmed while 28 percent said the Senate should confirm him while 25 percent disagreed.

In terms of the Iowa Senate race, the issues seems to have little impact, according to the poll. Among undecided voters, 34 percent say the decision about Scalia's replacement is their single-most important issue or very import in determining who they will vote for in the November general election.

Only 5 percent said it is one of their top three issues.

Regardless of Grassley's impressions and the poll findings, Americans United for Change had its billboard truck outside the courthouse with a message asking Iowans to 'Tell your senators: Do your job” and fill the vacancy.

According to AUFC, May 30th marked 75 days since Obama nominated Garland. On average, it has taken the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Grassley chairs, 42 days to begin hearings on Supreme Court nominees.

'If history was followed, Garland would have already gotten a hearing,” according to AUFC spokesman Blake Williams.