According to a HuffPost/YouGov poll, 89% of Republicans believe President Barack Obama has exceeded the limits of authority granted a President by the US Constitution, and 68% of them believe impeachment of the President is justified. The figures for Democrats were 16% and 8% while those identifying as Independents recorded 52% and 37% respectively.
The results are hardly surprising, with the frequency of Obama being described as "lawless" reaching a crescendo in the past eight months courtesy of Republican politicians, candidates and self-styled pundits on right wing media.
Calls for the President to be impeached were isolated instances in 2010 (Rep Darrell Issa R-Cal), 2011 (Rep Michael Burgess R-Tex), 2012 (Sen John Kyl R-Az), May 2013 (Rep Michele Bachmann R-Min), then a chorus of three in August 2013 (Sen Tom Coburn R-Ok, Rep Blake Farenthold R-Tex and Rep Kerry Bentivolio R-Mich). It's worth noting that as Ms Bachmann erroneously declared "everyone wants Obama impeached", she herself was under investigation for ethics violations – and still is.
In December 2012, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing formally titled "The President's Constitutional Duty to Faithfully Execute the Laws". At the time it was certainly viewed as an attempt to begin justifying impeachment proceedings and it ushered in a new era of strident complaints unaccompanied by specific "crimes or misdemeanors".
Since then the rallying rant fueling conservatives' outrage has gained momentum and diversity. It's an outrage engine that travels on a one-way rail line from Muttering Whingers to Utterly Ridiculous via Bizarre.
Conservative group Overpasses for America bought space on an electronic billboard on Georgia 400 near Cumming for their impeachment message. At the South Dakota Republican Party’s annual convention in June this year, delegates voted 191-176 in favor of a resolution calling for the impeachment of the President. The National Black Republicans, a group describing itself as "an organization focused on returning black Americans to their Republican Party roots", drafted ten articles of impeachment that charge the President with "egregious acts of despotism". The Conservative Tribune report fails to mention what they planned to do with these articles. Of course no impeachment circus would be complete without mention of Sarah Palin who's furiously stoking the outrage engine with dirty coal.
Now 68% of Republicans and 37% of Independents have boarded that train and it spells trouble for John Boehner and the pro-lawsuit Congressmen. There are indications too that House Republicans' confidence in the lawsuit alternative is beginning to fade. Even Bachmann, who claims she proposed the litigation option back in January, is now saying the suit is likely to fail for want of standing.
Suing the President is also failing to find much traction with the public as evidenced in these survey results from PPP:
With 54% of respondents believing the lawsuit is nothing more than a political stunt, 56% decrying the whole idea as a waste of taxpayers' dollars and 63% prioritizing job creation over suing the President, these are not encouraging results for House Republicans. Even if all 41% of those surveyed identifying as Democrats are included in these figures, that still leaves 13% to 22% comprising Republicans and/or Independents who are not favoring this action. Furthermore, as noted by PPP’s Tom Jensen:
"Congress - and John Boehner personally - already have record low poll numbers. These new findings indicate that the lawsuit against Obama will just reinforce Boehner's image as an out-of-touch leader with the wrong priorities."
The dilemma that John Boehner and the House Republicans now find themselves in is of their own making. They began the "lawless" chant; they poured on the fuel and stoked the fire. Now they have a base baying for impeachment.
Ignore the wishes of their base and they face a backlash on the campaign trail. Surrender all common sense and file articles for impeachment, and they'll likely galvanize Democratic voters to turn out in record numbers for a midterm election. Either way it's a train wreck waiting to happen for Congressional Republicans, especially the Senate GOP who can see the impeachment/lawsuit issue in the House derailing their hopes of winning a Senate majority this year.
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The HuffPost/YouGov poll was conducted July 9-11 among 1,000 U.S. adults using a sample selected from YouGov's opt-in online panel to match the demographics and other characteristics of the adult U.S. population. Factors considered include age, race, gender, education, employment, income, marital status, number of children, voter registration, time and location of Internet access, interest in politics, religion and church attendance.
PPP surveyed 1,161 registered voters from July 11th to 13th on behalf of Americans
United for Change. The survey’s margin of error is +/-2.9%.
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