Poll: Roberts up, Rove down

USA Today reports that Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, unknown a week ago, gets high favorable ratings in a CNN/Gallup/USA Today poll:

Roberts' favorable-unfavorable ratings are a muscular 46%-13%; 19% haven't heard of him.

In contrast, by 34% to 25%, Americans have an unfavorable view of Rove; 25% have never heard of him. Seen by many as Bush's most powerful White House adviser, Rove has been in the news lately because of an investigation into whether administration officials illegally leaked the name of a CIA operative to reporters.

The controversy hasn't gripped the public's attention. Just half of those surveyed say they are following the story closely; one in five aren't following it at all.

Even so, 25% think Rove broke the law in the case. An additional 37% suspect that he did something unethical but not illegal. Just 15% say they think he didn't do anything seriously wrong.

Those surveyed are split almost evenly, 40%-39%, over whether Bush should fire him. By 49% to 31%, a plurality says he should resign.

And the Democratic Party gets a 52% favorable rating, compared to 46% for the Rs.