Ask Americans if they think Congress should impeach President Obama, and an angry and outraged 35 percent say yes.
Sixty-five percent say no, that impeachment — as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has called for — goes too far. Still, former President Bill Clinton was impeached with similar survey numbers.
The new CNN/ORC International poll released Friday, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, highlights the partisan divide in Congress and around the nation, with 57 percent of Republicans voting yay to impeach, but only 35 percent of independents and 13 percent of Democrats saying similarly, CNN reported.
“Anti-impeachment sentiment is roughly where it was for past presidents,” said CNN polling director Keating Holland, in CNN. “Sixty-seven percent opposed Bill Clinton’s impeachment in September 1998 and 69 percent opposed impeaching George W. Bush when a few Democrats began talking about it in 2006.”
Mr. Holland said Americans, by and large, look at impeachment as a serious matter.
“Only about one in five say that impeachment is a valid response if Congress is dissatisfied with a president’s policies or the way he is handling his job,” he said. “Nearly eight in 10 say impeachment should be reserved for high crimes and misdemeanors.”
The poll comes just a day after the House Rules Committee gave the go-ahead to a resolution that authorizes Speaker John Boehner to move ahead with a lawsuit against the president.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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