CNN/ORC Poll: Majority say no to impeachment and lawsuit
Washington (CNN) - There’s not a lot of public appetite for a Republican push to sue President Barack Obama, or for calls by some conservatives to impeach him, according to a new national survey.
A CNN/ORC International poll released Friday morning also indicates that a small majority of Americans do not believe that Obama has gone too far in expanding the powers of the presidency.
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Earlier this month, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the GOP's 2008 vice presidential nominee, called for Obama's impeachment, becoming the latest voice on the right to make the suggestion.
But according to the poll, only 35% want Obama impeached, with nearly two-thirds saying the President should not be removed from office.
There's an obvious partisan divide, with 57% of Republicans but only 35% of independents and 13% of Democrats backing a move to impeach Obama.
"Anti-impeachment sentiment is roughly where it was for past presidents - 67% opposed Bill Clinton's impeachment in September 1998, and 69% opposed impeaching George W. Bush when a few Democrats began talking about it in 2006," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
"One reason may be that Americans take impeachment very seriously. 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. Nearly eight in 10 say impeachment should be reserved for high crimes and misdemeanors," Holland adds.
Senior Obama adviser on impeachment: 'I would not discount that possibility'
The poll's release came one day after the House Rules Committee approved – along a party line vote – a resolution authorizing Speaker John Boehner's lawsuit against the President. The GOP controlled House is expected approve it next week.
Boehner and House Republicans plan to sue Obama over his health care law. They claim he violated the Constitution by circumventing Congress and changing the law's employer mandate on his own.
By a 57%-41% margin, Americans say House Republicans shouldn't file the suit. As with the question on impeachment, there's a wide partisan divide over the lawsuit.
Boehner: Why we must now sue the President
When it comes to expanding the power of the presidency, has Obama gone too far? Forty-five percent say yes, with three in 10 saying the President's actions have been about right, and 22% saying he hasn't gone far enough.
CNN Poll: Border crisis making major impact on immigration views
CNN Poll: Obama's numbers not great but holding steady
The poll was conducted for CNN by ORC International from July 18-20, with 1,012 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.
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Dan Pfeiffer, a leading adviser for Barack Obama, is saying that what the president is planning to do on immigration will make Republicans in Congress unhappy. Very unhappy.
“The president acting on immigration reform will certainly up the likelihood that they would contemplate impeachment,” the report quoted Pfeiffer saying. He noted it would be “foolish” to overlook the possibility.
Pfeiffer said he can see Republicans moving toward impeachment, according to the report, “in retaliation for the immigration orders he is expected to unveil by the end of the summer.”
A survey "by phone?" We are talking about a home phone which is becoming scarcer than hen's teeth. Only folks too poor to buy a cell phone have home phones anymore. And what demographic are the poor folks? You got it. This survey is so skewed toward Obama that it is meaningless.
No grounds for impeachment - Congress Republicans again ignore the work before them to continue the partisan attacks and fan the fires of extremists.
The lawsuit is a concern, not because it has any merit, but because it may come before this radically partisan Supreme Court. You know, the one that just ruled a woman's right to choose belongs to everyone but herself!
67% opposed Bill Clinton's impeachment in September 1998, and 69% opposed impeaching George W. Bush
CNN will run any article – no matter how asinine.
and who are these 13% of Democrats that want to impeach Obama?
I don't believe there's a single Democrat in this country that actually thinks that.
Republicans don't respect our country or our laws. (Taking away someone's right to vote?)
They're just a bunch of morally bankrupt selfish morons.
how about sending all republicans in a cell with some brothers for a week of fun????????????????/ all these white racists should be in prison
Or they might just think handing the country to crazy uncle Joe would be even worse. Also remember next in line after Joe would be cry baby Boehner. The line of succession jut goes from bad to worse.
So, a bunch of people still think global warming is a hoax, and I suspect those are the same people.
" .. indicates that a small majority of Americans do not believe that Obama has gone too far ..." What exactly is a "small majority" ?
35% is the same percent who 'believe' the President was born in Kenya.
35% believe the President is imperial and marxist at the same time.
35% don't know who the president is.
35% think impeachment is stoning using peaches.
I can go on forever but the only thing this proves is that we badly need education reform in this country.
They wanted to impeach George W and Clinton. Nothing new here, let's move along.
This is common sense. Over half of Americans get free government stuff, so yeah they think he is doing fine. Ask people who pay the bill for all these bums and I bet it doubles.
DK
Ok, so 35% of the public doesn't understand what is a valid basis for impeachment. They may not like Obama, but it's laughably ignorant to call for impeachment when there are absolutely no grounds to do so.
July 25, 2014 01:39 pm at 1:39 pm |
"laughably ignorant" is the best description of the mouth-breathing, know-nothing dead-enders on the right/GOP/Tea Party i can think of.
Impeachment.Bah! Get rid of the wrong type of republican fake politician (read: thinks his style of racism is well hidden).
So the news is that this is no different than other recent POTUS.
The Guy is the most corrupt President in the history of the country, but unfortunately he happens to be half black, and nearly half the public and the mainstream media would never allow it to happen! This whole "presidency" was propped by a media that ignored the man's past and his total lack of experience at running anything in his adult life! Sad Days!
65% say DO NOT impeach Obama
I think if the House starts down that road, he should arrest, W., Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz., etc., and ship them down to Gtmo. You won't let it be closed; let's do something useful with it then! I don't know the timing, but maybe after the November election and before the new Congress is seated in January?
–That's not news.
35% of Americans think Obama is a Soshulist Space Alien.
Unaccompanied children at the border went from 4,000 prior to 2012 to 10,000 in 2012, 21,000 in 2013 and now 39,000 due to a 2012 Obama executive order. Obama is the problem
So more people think Obama should be impeached than thought that G. W. Bush should be impeached. No surprise.
Makes sense. That's the same 35% who think he's the worst president since Nixon. In 2006, 52% of Americans wanted to impeach Bush over the Iraq war lies. In our polarized political environment, aided by 24-7 news media there probably won't be a second term president that 30-40% of the people don't want impeached.
Our country is too polarized. 52% wanted to impeach Bush in 2006. 35% want to impeach Obama. Whoever the next president is, people will be calling to impeach him/her halfway through their second term. Welcome to political discourse in modern America.
–and 35% of Americans wanted to impeach him before he was even sworn in as president...
Sarah Palin called for Obama's "impeachment," lol! She probably just learned the word and wanted to use it in a sentence.