So throw up another poll about extending it to autoconfirmed - you are right as far as I can tell that it enjoys some support, but I doubt that the folks invested in the original poll or involved in the RfR granting process at this point will support it.
I think this whole thing could have been avoided if the common sense notion that polls over the holidays are a bad idea had occurred to the folks involved in setting it up. Two or three guys rushed it, and here we are. Still, I think the bureaucracy concerns can be largely allayed by either making it an autoconfirm right or allowing admins to just grant it - with no more process than a block, which is certainly a bigger deal.
Nathan