Again, I have little expectation that Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court will be derailed, but this would seem to be a fertile ground for discussion in hearings: “American voters say 55 – 36 percent that affirmative action should be abolished, and disagree 71 – 19 percent with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayer’s ruling in the New Haven firefighters’ case, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. More than 70 percent of voters say diversity is not a good enough reason to give minorities preferential treatment in competition for government or private sector jobs, the independent Quinnipiac University survey of more than 3,000 voters finds.”