A Zogby poll due out later today apparently shows most Americans supporting the impeachment of President Bush if he committed any crimes by lying to the Congress or the public about intelligence leading up to the Iraq War.
Zogby poll: Majority of likely voters support considing impeachment over Iraq, 51-45 percent (Raw Story)
A new poll of likely voters by Zogby International has found that a majority of Americans support Congress considering the impeachment of President Bush if he “did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq,†RAW STORY has learned.
The poll, to be released this afternoon, finds that 51 percent of likely voters want Congress to eye impeachment, while 45 percent do not. It was commissioned by AfterDowningStreet.org, a coalition of progressive groups seeking a Congressional investigation of the events leading up to war in Iraq. Not surprisingly, Democrats supported the consideration of impeachment by a broad margin (76 percent) while Republicans opposed (66 percent). However, 29 percent of Republicans told Zogby pollsters that they supported Congress examining impeachment over Iraq.
“These results are stunning,” AfterDowningStreet.org co-founder Bob Fertik said in a statement. “A clear majority of Americans now supports President Bush’s impeachment if he lied about the war. This should send shock waves through the White House – and a wake-up call to Democrats and Republicans in Congress, who have sole power under the Constitution to impeach President Bush.”.
I would have to see the survey results (not yet showing on Zogby’s site) before being able to offer much substantive analysis.
Clearly, the poll was commissioned by an activist group that had this result in mind. Question wording would have a huge influence on the results. Indeed, I would support Congress looking into impeachment if we had reasonable evidence that Bush fabricated intelligence or intentionally misled the public; I just don’t believe it exists.
While no new poll is up, this “story” from earlier in the week is:
Remember When the GOP Wanted to Impeach Earl Warren? – Thinking About Impeachment
There is little doubt that the even if the Bush administration doesn’t go down in flames, it will go down in history as one of, if not the most incompetent, corrupt and dangerous presidencies in the history of the republic.
The question is, with crimes so colossal, why isn’t there a public demand for his impeachment?
In fact, there is a powerful and growing popular sentiment for impeachment–we just don’t hear about it. The Zogby organization, the only polling outfit to have posed the question to date, found last June that 42 percent of Americans felt Bush should be impeached if he lied about the war (a much larger percentage believe he lied). That, of course, was before the mainstream media began finally reporting, as a result of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation of Plamegate, on the disinformation campaign for war against Iraq directed by Vice President Dick Cheney and the White House Iraq Group. It was also before Bush himself was found to have been in on the cover-up of the outing of Valerie Plame by Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby and presidential advisor Karl Rove. It was also before the US death toll in Iraq topped 2000.
Why a reputable polling firm is putting such claptrap on its website is unclear.
