I took a Harris Poll this weekend that focused on politics. It was one of the more extensive Harris political polls that I've taken. The biggest surprise question to me was about impeachment:
Next, we have some questions about some major political controversies. If the President of the United States is accused of misconduct while in office, and members of the U.S. House of Representatives decide that the evidence of possible misconduct is convincing, then the House can impeach the president. After the president is impeached, the U.S. Senate would hold a trial to decide whether the president should be removed from office.
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Although some people have said that President George W. Bush has done things that should cause him to be impeached, other people have said that he has done nothing that should cause him to be impeached.
A recent survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs indicated that 50% of Americans agreed with the statement "If President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should consider holding him accountable by impeaching him."
If the Congress holds impeachment hearings and decides that President George W. Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq would you oppose or favor the impeachment of President George W. Bush?
[ ]Oppose impeachment
[ ]Favor impeachment
[ ]Neither favor nor oppose impeachment
This leads me to believe that the efforts put forth to get the Ipsos poll in place, as a way to get Zogby to re-visit the impeachment question, are paying dividends. As David Swanson says, the Ipsos poll was commissioned by AfterDowningStreet.org.
After you take a Harris poll, you can see the current results on a few select questions. For this poll, these questions (and current results) are:
SHOULD THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SPEND MORE OR LESS MONEY ON THE MILITARY?
A lot more: 14.40%
A little more: 19.90%
About the same: 30.00%
A little less: 17.10%
A lot less: 18.60%
SHOULD THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT OR EASIER TO BUY A GUN?
A lot more difficult: 40.10%
A little more difficult: 20.20%
About the same: 29.90%
A little easier: 5.50%
A lot easier: 4.40%
SHOULD THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SPEND MORE OR LESS MONEY ON PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
A lot more: 52.60%
A little more: 23.40%
About the same: 13.50%
A little less: 5.10%
A lot less: 5.40%
HOW WOULD YOU RATE THE OVERALL JOB THAT PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH IS DOING?
Excellent: 10.30%
Pretty good: 23.60%
Only fair: 21.00%
Poor: 45.10%
HAS PRESIDENT BUSH DONE BETTER OR WORSE THAN YOU EXPECTED SINCE HE BECAME PRESIDENT?
Better: 32.60%
Worse: 67.40%
The impeachment question wasn't one of the few for which current results are accessible. Bummer. Think we'll hear about this poll in the media?
And now: Your turn!