When it comes to how they will vote in November, Republican voters say that the type of Supreme Court Justices a candidate would appoint is more important than the War in Iraq. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 44% of Republicans pick the economy as the top voting issue, 30% name judicial appointments, and just 19% pick the War in Iraq.

Among all voters, 52% say the economy is the most important of those three issues, 26% name Iraq, and 17% say judicial appointments are the key. Just 7% of Democrats name judicial appointments as the most important of those issues.

By a 69% to 20% margin, voters believe that judges should interpret the law as it is written. Seventy-four percent (74%) of men favor that approach along with 65% of women.

Voters are evenly split as to whether judges should “reach decisions on the basis of his deepest values, core concerns, and broader perspectives on how the world works.” Those words are Barack Obama’s, but they were not identified with Obama in the survey question. Forty-one percent (41%) agree with that approach for judges while 40% disagree. A plurality of women favor that approach while a plurality of men are opposed.

Sixty-one percent (61%) say they trust voters more than judges or elected officials to decide important decisions facing the country. That figure includes 66% of unaffiliated voters, 64% of Republicans, and 54% of Democrats.

Overall, 16% say they trusted elected officials to make those decisions while 11% trust judges the most.

The survey found that 35% believe most judges are politically moderate, 27% are politically conservative, and 21% politically liberal.

A separate survey found that 41% say the Supreme Court is doing a good or excellent job. Clarence Thomas is the Justice with the highest name recognition. Thirty-eight percent (38%) of voters nationwide have a favorable opinion of him while 50% hold an unfavorable view.

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