Since when did Republicans make decisions based on polling? Since always, of course. Leave it to Rick Santorum, scared beyond his wits by his anemic polling numbers, to become the first GOP leader openly weak-kneed about the nuclear option. Alexander Bolton has the story for The Hill:

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), a leading advocate of the “nuclear option” to end the Democrats’ filibuster of judicial nominees, is privately arguing for a delay in the face of adverse internal party polls.

Details of the polling numbers remain under wraps, but Santorum and other Senate sources concede that, while a majority of Americans oppose the filibuster, the figures show that most also accept the Democratic message that Republicans are trying to destroy the tradition of debate in the Senate.

The Republicans are keeping the “nuclear” poll numbers secret, whereas they have often in the past been keen to release internal survey results that favor the party. David Winston, head of the Winston Group, which conducts Senate GOP polls, did return phone calls seeking comment.

[...]

“People see checks and balances as Democrats checking Republicans, not the legislative checking the executive or the judiciary checking the legislative,” Santorum said. Filibustering presidential nominees was not something the Founding Fathers envisioned as a tool for balancing power between the branches, he argued. In other words, Democrats have managed to convince the public of their right to check Republicans in the Senate. [emphasis added]

A number of progressives have complained about Senate Democrats' inability to block conservative legislation, like ANWR and the Bankruptcy Bill. This Bolton article shows, however, that Harry Reids tactics of strategically, but forcefully hitting the Republicans on key issues is working.

Even Republican polling shows this. Whether the sentiment of the American people is enough to sway Bill Frist away from invoking the nuclear option is unclear. Nevertheless, the Democrats have gotten their message out -- even Santorum admits as much -- and the American people are on their side.