Even if you don’t believe in polls, don’t trust them, or tend to ignore the statistics, this survey conducted by Quinnipiac is worth a glance. Deep in the bowels of another political survey was a question regarding the American appetite for impeachment. And guess what? It appears voters aren’t that hungry.
You have to dig all the way down to question 37 to get to the deadly “I” word: “Do you think that President Trump should be impeached and removed from office, or don’t you think so?” As it turns out, 57% say no and 37% approve. This result echoes a Monmouth University poll conducted in August, which concluded that 59% disapprove of impeachment.
Digging Deeper
While the impeachment question largely cuts along party lines with a preponderance of Republicans against and a majority of Democrats saying they are for it, there is some fascinating analytics that the legacy media has yet to report. In general, women were more likely to answer yes by 11%. And while a full 73% of Dems said they approve of impeachment, that leaves almost a third of them who don’t think it’s a good idea.
The results split along racial lines as well, with only 30% of whites in favor of impeachment. Impeaching President Trump is okay with 68% of blacks and 52% of Hispanics. Then there is the powerful demographic of people who actually go to the polls and cast their ballots. By and large, this historically means older Americans between the ages of 35 and 65. Approximately 60% of those who make up these demographics are not in favor of Congress calling the president on the carpet.
These numbers also reveal a dirty little secret: While more than half of those polled by Quinnipiac say they disapprove of the president’s performance, did not vote for him in 2016, and do not plan to vote for him in 2020, they still do not approve of his being brought before Congress and impeached.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched an impeachment inquiry before the phone call transcript between the president and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky was released to the public. In announcing the proceedings, Pelosi asked that the process move forward “expeditiously.” Now that the wheels are turning, members of the House Judiciary Committee could bring the famed “articles of impeachment” to the floor of the legislative body relatively soon – some reports say as early as next month.
Nancy Pelosi
In a quick rejoinder to Pelosi, the president tweeted, “The Democrats are so focused on hurting the Republican Party and the President that they are unable to get anything done because of it, including legislation on gun safety, lowering of prescription drug prices, infrastructure, etc. So bad for our Country!”
When it comes right down to it, American voters do not seem to have a lust for such a relatively rare and divisive proceeding as impeachment. At the very least they appear to be hesitant on such a move. Nevertheless, the impeachment train is rolling down the tracks with all due speed whether the American voter likes it or not. However, the political class should be circumspect at moving in a direction that citizens don’t want because it could come back to haunt them.
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted from September 19 to 23. A total of 1,337 registered voters were surveyed. Of those, 568 self-describe as Republicans and 561 say they are Democrats. The poll has a margin of error of 3.2%.
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