These polls could also potentially be bad news for the Supreme Court were Kavanaugh to be confirmed. Although the Supreme Court is an unelected body, it still needs the public to be confident in it. That is, studies show that the court is at its most powerful when it follows public opinion.

If Kavanaugh were confirmed and issued controversial opinions, his low popularity could hurt the public’s confidence in the court.

Yet, it would be a mistake to assume that just because Kavanaugh is the least popular Supreme Court nominee in a generation that it means he isn’t going to be confirmed.