Majority of Americans Disapprove Of The House’s Lawsuit Against Obama

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A new CBS News poll indicates that a majority of Americans disapprove of the House’s lawsuit against President Obama:

Despite their reservations about the president, more Americans disapprove (54 percent) than approve (37 percent) of the lawsuit against Mr. Obama authorized by Republicans in the House of Representatives, which charges that the president exceeded his authority when he delayed a provision of the 2010 health care law.

Not surprisingly, there are partisan differences. Two in three Republicans approve of the lawsuit, while four in five Democrats disapprove. Just over half of independents disapprove.

Here’s the partisan breakdown:

Obama Lawsuit Poll

In other words, the only group of people where a majority of people support suing the President is Republicans. Sean Sullivan suggests that this is something that could end up backfiring on Republicans, and he’s likely correct. It won’t happen in the 2014 elections mostly likely, in no small part because of the kind of turnout we’re likely to see in November but also because the lawsuit itself is unlikely to be making much news by the time November rolls around. Going forward, however, and especially as we head into the 2016 elections, this lawsuit, along with whatever other antics that Congressional Republicans engage in over the next two years, are likely to feed into the general public perception that the GOP is more interested in obstruction and attacking President Obama than it is in actually getting anything done. That is likely to pose a problem for whoever the nominee is in 2016 regardless of whether they are part of Washington or not.

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. gVOR08 says:

    …the general public perception realization that the GOP is more interested in obstruction and attacking President Obama than it is in actually getting anything done.

    FTFY

  2. beth says:

    @gVOR08: I can’t wait for the first Tea Party sponsored Republican debate where the moderator asks the candidates if they’d be willing to sign a pledge promising that if elected President they would never issue signing statements or executive orders.

  3. Liberal Capitalist says:

    Majority of Americans Disapprove Of ….

    And there is the rub.

    The majority of Americans are not wackadoodle. (no… really!)

    Still, we have a large block that seem to be challenged with reality.

    And, from their perspective, from what I have heard over several years, their perception of the majority disagreeing with them is nothing more than reinforcing that the country is going to hell in a handbasket.

    It doesn’t matter if policy changes benefit them… It doesn’t matter is facts are presented in black and white… it doesn’t matter if their beliefs are in complete disagreement with the world around them.

    You can’t penetrate the echo chamber… nor do they wish to leave the comfort of the like minded.

    In other words, the only group of people where a majority of people support suing the President is Republicans

    Really? Who’d have thunk it.

  4. Tillman says:

    …so? A majority of Americans didn’t vote Republican for their representative in the House either.

    It’s been apparent for some time that the Republicans cater to their constituency. So what if the rest disagree? It’s not like they could cause the nation to default on its financial obligations or something wacko like that.

  5. aFloridian says:

    This is just embarrassing. Its unbecoming and reveals just how deluded your rank-and-file Republican has become. If the Democrats would stop being so anti-gun and anti-white, I’d probably sign up today. Granted, the Republican party is pretty dang anti-minority, so it’s no wonder we are so racially divided.

  6. wr says:

    @aFloridian: “Its unbecoming and reveals just how deluded your rank-and-file Republican has become. If the Democrats would stop being so anti-gun and anti-white, I’d probably sign up today.

    I hate to break this to you, but if you honestly believe the Democrats are “anti-white,” you are part of the “just how deluded” problem, not the solution.

  7. Davebo says:

    @aFloridian:

    If the Democrats would stop being so anti-gun and anti-white, I’d probably sign up today.

    I’d say you are right where you need to be. Just please don’t leave Florida.

  8. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @aFloridian: We’re not anti-gun, we’re just anti-guns in the hands of absolute idiot psychopaths. We are not anti-white either, we just want everyone to be treated as equals. Of course, I suppose from your point of view, that is anti-white (supremacy).

  9. al-Ameda says:

    Unfortunately it doesn’t really matter. The fact is 66% of Republicans approve of the lawsuit and those are the folks who are running The House.

    I wonder what the most recent polling on Impeachment of Obama shows? Do 66% of Republicans support impeachment? I’m guessing that over 66%, perhaps 75% of Republicans support impeachment.

  10. C. Clavin says:

    Actually there isn’t a lawsuit. Right? I mean Boehner has postured…most likely in an effort to rile up the dupes…er..I mean base. Or maybe to placate the complete nutjobs who think impeachment is justified. But even though it was authorized by the Republican caucus…nothing has been filed as far as I know. Probably never will be.

  11. Tony W says:

    I don’t envy our Republican friends’ position. They have to be completely nutty to win the primary (the part where “majority of Americans” does not matter, then some of them have to face that true ‘majority’ in the General election. Mr. Romney can tell you how well that goes.

  12. JohnMcC says:

    @al-Ameda: Probably you can find the numbers here, my California friend: talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/impeachment-polls-gop

    They cite 3 recent polls (links are to pdf’s). About 55-60% of Repubs are in favor of impeachment.
    The interesting part of the breakdown is that repondents over 65 actually had lower favorable impressions of impeaching Barack than the next younger demographics. I guess that we (being myself >65) consider impeachment to be a really, really big deal. To younger segments, maybe it’s more ‘politics by other means’.

    I think that the consensus of respected opinion about the Boehner lawsuit is that it will fail early because of ‘standing’. If that happens before the midterms in Nov, I will expect that Repub candidates will feel a strong pro-impeachment tide from their constituents. It’s really the ‘remedy’ that so-called ‘Constitutional Conservatives’ ought to prefer. Unless someone discovers a clause in the Constitution authorizing the Courts to judge between the President and the Congress, they are actually correct.

  13. James says:

    They didn’t impeach Andrew Jackson when he defied the Supreme Court and removed the Cherokee Nation from its lands.
    They didn’t impeach Abraham Lincoln when he suspended habeus corpus during the Civil War.
    They didn’t impeach FDR for ordering the forced removal and imprisonment of Japanese Americans.
    They didn’t impeach Ronald Reagan for selling weapons to Iran to fund the Columbian Contrast.

    They did impeach Andrew Johnson for a fight over the Secretary of War.
    They did impeach Bill Clinton for lying during an investigation into his personal life.

    The United States doesn’t impeach presidents for high crimes and misdemeanors, just for political bullsht

  14. al-Ameda says:

    @JohnMcC:
    Interesting, thank you for the link.
    I’m trying to find more polling, on this. Anecdotal only, but … older very conservative folks in my family watch FoxNews all day and they strongly support impeachment.