The impeachment question

December 15, 2005

About six months ago, a national Zogby poll found that a whopping 42% of the electorate would favor impeachment proceedings against Bush if the president did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq. Since then, polls asking this or similar questions have been far and few between.

I tend to avoid the subject of the “I” word, not because the idea lacks merit, but because it’s just too implausible. Congress, short of video footage showing the president selling military secrets to Osama bin Laden, won’t consider impeachment. With this in mind, it’s not worth dwelling over.

Having said that, there are still occasional polls conducted on the question. And while Zogby’s question over the summer was conditional — would you support impeachment if you were convinced Bush lied — Rasmussen recently asked the question straight up.

Thirty-two percent (32%) of Americans believe that President George W. Bush should be impeached and removed from office. Fifty-eight percent (58%) take the opposite view. […]

Thirty-five percent (35%) of Americans believe Vice President Cheney should be impeached and removed from office.

The impeachment of President Bush is favored by a plurality (49%) of Democrats. However, it is opposed by 84% of Republicans and 55% of those not affiliated with either major political party.

Does this suggest that 16% of self-identified Republicans either want Bush impeached or are unsure? Hmm.

The fact that one-in-three Americans not only disapprove of Bush’s job performance but literally want him removed from office strikes me as pretty remarkable. Indeed, if Bush’s overall approval rating is about 39%, the difference between those who think the president is doing a good job and those who want Congress to draw articles isn’t that big.

Cheney first, please.

  • John Kerry said last night that if Dems retake the House, there’s a “solid case” to bring “articles of impeachment” against President Bush for allegedly misleading the country about pre-war intelligence, according to several Dems who attended.

  • All this is neither here nor there and tormenting to boot. Gore Vidal once said that the President no longer matters–he just does as he’s told by his corporate patrons. That is, presidents are virtually interchangeable and, should any person get elected who didn’t play along, there are enough corrupted people to make sure the new President remains impotent where it matters. We certainly know that Congress doesn’t even draft bills anymore–the lobbyists do that. Why should the President be any different?

    That’s what’s so frustrating. Not only will impeachment never happen, but it wouldn’t change anything.

  • Probably any minority Repubs who would favor impeachment would say it’s because Bush has been too soft on the French, welfare chiselers (you know who *they* are), Social Security supporters, homos, illegal aliens, atheists, labor unions, Iraq, Iran and Syria, and Godless so-called scientists, and not aggresive enough on eliminating taxes on all of us who are, or someday expect to be, filthy rich.

    Those people would probably not back any articles of impeachment that those of us on the other side might bring.

  • After all this guy has done, I think 32% is
    remarkably small, remarkably. But
    we have no historical record to match
    it against. It was asked about Clinton,
    but only after impeachment became a
    reality.

    Still, that 2/3 of the American people
    don’t think he’s done anything wrong
    is mind boggling.

    I think we should all swear off alternative
    news sources for six months and watch
    only network or cable news. Then maybe
    we’d understand why the American
    people are so blissfully unaware of what
    this administration is doing.

  • I agree with hark. The number of people favoring impeachment is low given the long list of potentially impeachable offenses Bush has committed in the last five years. All of them are much worse than a consensual blowjob.

    Impeachment isn’t going to happen even if Democrats have majorities in the House and Senate. But looking at Bush’s “gains” in opinion polls, I just have the sinking feeling that Democrats or any of the dozens of liberal groups that oppose Bush and his policies just aren’t succeeding making convincing arguments that he is dangerously incompetent.

  • I’m surprised that everyone is hanging their hat on the issue of prewar intelligence in theoretical arguments about impeachment. I, for one, think the whole torture issue is so much graver and more damaging. This is a president who made torture a matter of policy. Clinton lied to a jury, about a miniscule matter. Personally, I think that was bad enough. But Bush (and Cheney, and Rumsfeld) did something that has absolutely harmed our national character. Now the McCain amendment is all but passed, some people will want to forget about all this nastiness and move on. But I think this is as important an issue as any facing the nation right now. And frankly, these men should be in jail.

  • No matter how justified impeachment is, and I think it is justified on may counts, there will be a large fraction of the American public that sees it as payback for the Clinton impeachment. Becuase of that , it would play into the Republican’s culture of victimhood and strengthen rather than weaken them. For this reason, I think it would be a dangerous tactic to pursue.

  • Just as a refresher I looked up impeach. #1 of course, is the biggie of being officially accused of bad deeds. #2 is the small “i” version of casting doubt and challenging credibility.

    On that basis Shruby provides daily helpings of small “i” impeachable offenses. Today McClellan caught some hell on Shruby’s behalf regarding Shruby’s declaring Delay an innocent man while hiding behind the skirts of Miss Ongoing Investigation in the Plame case. The hypocrisy was noted. http://tinyurl.com/96krf from Editor and Publisher

    Those sorts of impeachable dings may be less dramatic but can still help to wipe the smirk off Shrubski’s face.

    impeach Bush.

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