The Daily Background

BuzzFlash ran this a little while ago and I just stumbled upon it:

A 1999 poll in the midst of Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial showed that only 32% of Americans wanted to remove him from office. But a poll this week shows that 39% of Americans want Bush and Cheney to be impeached.
[…]
Of course, Clinton’s approval rate was 67% at the time - more than twice Bush’s current 28%. That’s because Clinton was making the nation a better place despite his personal failings, as opposed to Bush making the whole world worse. For example, 89% of Americans thought the economy was in good shape in 1999, and today 65% oppose the war in Iraq.
[…]
Impeachment shouldn’t just be about punishment - that can happen later once Bush and Cheney are safely out of the White House. Impeachment is primarily a last resort to prevent tyrants like Bush from doing further harm. But don’t just take our word for it: 58% of Americans “personally wish that George W. Bush’s presidency was over.”

Certainly interesting, although the first poll mentioned isn’t about impeachment, it’s about impeachment and actual removal. I suspect that if a poll was taken right now which asked whether Americans wanted impeachment and removal today, the number would not be 39%. Also, more grains of salt: the poll was conducted by some polling firm nobody has ever heard of, with only 621 respondents (all registered voters). Still, these are some interesting statistics.

Filed under: Polls, Z-TDB Blog