Are Pundits & Politicians Mis-Assessing Public Support for Impeachment? (Updated)

Posted by D. Cupples |  Yesterday, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) introduced a House resolution to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.  At first, House Republicans and many Democrats voted to table Kucinich's resolution (to kill it without debate). 

Apparently, Democratic leaders still don't want to discuss impeachment. Later, in a move meant to embarrass Dem leaders, Republicans voted to send the resolution to the floor for debate (The Hill). It passed.

After some quick thinking, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) voted to send the resolution to the Judiciary Committee, where (most people speculate) it will die of oxygen deprivation.

The Washington Post's Paul Kane Kane commented in a tone suggesting that he views impeachment as a silly notion entertained only by the "far left."  Oddly, Kane's very first commenter wrote: "Let's make sure that Cheney goes, then we can impeach Bush."

This made me wonder: had Kane mis-assessed his own readers' feelings about impeachment?  Lacking time to read all comments, I read only the first 50 and tallied them. Just to be safe, I placed even comments that weren't obivous or that were off topic into the "Anti-Impeachment" category.  The results: 72% of Kane's first 50 commenters obviously support impeachment (36 for and 14 against).

Below are a few of those comments....

1.  "The idea that impeaching Dick Cheney is 'an irresponsible move supported only by the far left' is divorced from reality. The July 2007 ARG poll found that 54% of Americans support 'beginning impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney.' Is it your contention that 54 percent represents a 'fringe element of anti-war activists'?  You [Kane] really should be fired."

2.  IMPEACHMENT....like a breath of fresh air!

3. "It's about time. We life-long Democrats (not left-wing) have been waiting for someone to stand up for us and the country and the Constitution. Kudos to Dennis Kucinich and his 22 co-sponsors...."

4. "The movement to impeach is hardly 'an irresponsible move supported only by the far left' - rather it is a necessary procedure to restore law and order to the executive branch that is supported by a growing contingent of Americans."

5. "What's embarrassing about this? This administration is probably the most deserving of impeachment in the history of the US. Democratic congress... you are truly useless."

6.  "Cheney's crimes.  Don't forget Cheney directed the TREASONOUS outing of a covert CIA agent, and all the employees working in the CIA cover organization 'Brewster Jennings.'"

7.  "If the Democrats had any courage, Bush and Cheney would have both been impeached by now...."

My little sampling doesn't necessarily reflect the American public's views, if only because I took comments from one newspaper.  Though some (e.g., Rush Limbaugh) label the Washington Post "liberal," WaPo doesn't appeal to true "left wingers" -- who laregly view WaPo as peddling pro-establishment spin.

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I can see how Kane and other pundits (and policitians, for that matter) might  "mis-underestimate" how many ordinary Americans actually favor impeachment of Bush and Cheney.  Pundits and politicians rely on pollsters for public opinion data, and most pollsters haven't been regularly asking about the public's views on impeachment. They should start.

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Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato commented:

“Democrats don’t want to imitate the Republican effort to impeach Bill Clinton,” said University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato. “It backfired then and it would backfire now. The term has got a year to run. What’s the point?” (The Hill)

It does seem probable that Cheney would not get convicted if actually impeached, given that a conviction vote requires 66.6 Senate votes and the Senate has 49 Republicans.  However, Sabato didn't explain how it would "backfire." 

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In Bill Clinton's case, he was still popular and his "high crime" or "misdemeanor" invovled a very personal matter.  Bush and Cheney are both highly unpopular -(laregly despised might be a more accurate phrase) and no one is upset with them for merely covering up extra-marital activity.

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For other bloggers' reactions, see Memeorandum.

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Related BN-Politics Posts:

* Polling Data Inadequately Reported

* CNN Poll: Bad News for Dems, No News for Republicans?

* Democrats So-Called "Control" of Congress

* New Poll: Record Low Approval of Bush & More

* Why Democrats Beat Republicans in Gallup Poll

* Approval Ratings: What do the Numbers Mean?

* Hoping for More Careful Polling Analysis

* New Poll: Majority of Republicans Support Strike against Iran

Comments

[J. Lynne]

Kane, like most Bush Admin supporters, will see and believe only what they want; if something presents itself that doesn't fit within those bounds, he will force it to fit any way he can make it fit even if it means, relabeling centrists as far-left nutjobs and assuming that the real American people just aren't voicing their opinions as loud as the nutjobs.