Almost 400,000 people voted in the online MSNBC poll today on wheather or not Bush shouild be impeached. And close to 90% of all respondents said "Yes".
This does not look good for the President. Nor is it a good look for the Democrats, who've made it very clear, once they won the mid-term elections, that they will not be seeking the impeachment of President Bush.
There is plenty of post-election analysis that claims online campaigning played a healthy role in getting the Democrats control of the Senate. Campaigning by the canidates, and by the thousands of blogs and hundreds of websites that were devoted to throwing as many Republicans out of the chamber as possible.
And this is where a major problem for the Democrats begins. Impeaching President Bush was a key firestarter for many online discussions and blog posts from pro-Democrats sites. Along with the Iraq War, of course. But these very same sites now have plenty of regular comments such as "When are the Dems going to live up to their election promise and impeach Bush"?
The Democrats, in particular the new Speaker of the House Pelosi, quickly tried to dismiss all talk of a Bush Impeachment
when she picked up her gavel, after a few weeks (post-election) clearly stating this was not part of their immediate agenda.
But, if the poll is an accurate reflection of even a small slice of the American public, then there are tens of millions of Americans, if not more than 100 million, who still want that 'promised' impeachment to go ahead.
Online polls are not accurate, they are open to stacking and corruption, but the poll is a heck of a visual message for the millions who access MSNBC on line every day, along with the tens of millions who will see these poll results via friends e-mails or the wealth of anti-Bush blogs and websites and plenty of other mainstream and independent media.
Maybe we should hold an nation wide vote. Oh wait, we've already learned that lesson. Truth is, no matter how the nation votes, we have no way of knowing if the results are accurate or not.
Almost 400,000 people voted in the online MSNBC poll today on wheather or not Bush shouild be impeached. And close to 90% of all respondents said "Yes".
This does not look good for the President. Nor is it a good look for the Democrats, who've made it very clear, once they won the mid-term elections, that they will not be seeking the impeachment of President Bush.
There is plenty of post-election analysis that claims online campaigning played a healthy role in getting the Democrats control of theCampaigning by the canidates, and by the thousands of blogs and hundreds of websites that were devoted to throwing as many Republicans out of the chamber as possible.
And this is where a major problem for the Democrats begins. Impeaching President Bush was a key firestarter for many online discussions and blog posts from pro-Democrats sites. Along with the Iraq War, of course. But these very same sites now have plenty of regular comments such as "When are the Dems going to live up to their election promise and impeach Bush"?
The Democrats, in particular the new Speaker of the House Pelosi, quickly tried to dismiss all talk of a Bush Impeachment
when she picked up her gavel, after a few weeks (post-election) clearly stating this was not part of their immediate agenda.
But, if the poll is an accurate reflection of even a small slice of the American public, then there are tens of millions of Americans, if not more than 100 million, who still want that 'promised' impeachment to go ahead.
Online polls are not accurate, they are open to stacking and corruption, but the poll is a heck of a visual message for the millions who access MSNBC on line every day, along with the tens of millions who will see these poll results via friends e-mails or the wealth of anti-Bush blogs and websites and plenty of other mainstream and independent media.
Maybe we should hold an nation wide vote. Oh wait, we've already learned that lesson. Truth is, no matter how the nation votes, we have no way of knowing if the results are accurate or not.
This article did mention that polls are not always accurate and can be open to stacking and corruption. I have been a conservative (now independent) and my conservative friends are not all in favor of impeachment but there sure not in favor of George W Bush either.
Last edited by woodster; 01-23-2007 at 10:51 PM.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
This article did mention that polls are not always accurate and can be open to stacking and corruption. I have been a conservative (now independent) and my conservative friends are not all in favor of impeachment but there sure not in favor of George W Bush either.
Except as one more indicator of his unpopularity.
It takes a majority of the House to impeach a President, and two-thirds of the Senate to convict. I doubt anyone could even muster the House majority, and if they did they certainly wouldn't get two thirds of the Senate.
It would rightly be seen as political grandstanding, and would probably backfire on the Dem's worse than the Clinton Impeachment backfired on the G.O.P. As a matter of fact, it's probably the biggest favor anyone could do for Bush.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MSNBC poll interpretation
Almost 400,000 people voted in the online MSNBC poll today on wheather or not Bush shouild be impeached. And close to 90% of all respondents said "Yes".
An online poll on a left leaning media outlet is hardly an accurate measurement of America. By the same concept, a poll on Rush Limbaugh's site would be equally dubious.
One huge issue is that many respondents to a poll like this probably don't even realize why a President would be impeached. In this case, impeached for WHAT? The Constitution is explicit about reasons for impeachment. Simply disagreement with a leader's policy is not sufficient reason for impeachment proceedings. Policy disagreements are not high crimes and misdemeanors.
An online poll on a left leaning media outlet is hardly an accurate measurement of America. By the same concept, a poll on Rush Limbaugh's site would be equally dubious.
One huge issue is that many respondents to a poll like this probably don't even realize why a President would be impeached. In this case, impeached for WHAT? The Constitution is explicit about reasons for impeachment. Simply disagreement with a leader's policy is not sufficient reason for impeachment proceedings. Policy disagreements are not high crimes and misdemeanors.
Naturally it's a slanted poll, that's why there called polls for either party as the poll will slant in one direction or another. And impeachments don't speak well for the credibility of our country.
(My interpretation, and correct me if I'm wrong, I'm sure you will).
Impeachment would have to relate to 'high crimes and misdemeanors'. The act of impeachment is nothing more than an action taken by the House of Representatives to send articles of impeachment to the full Senate for a trial.
Do we think that Bill Clinton's impeachment was of the nature of high crimes and misdemeanors?
This article listed the grounds for impeachment in their questions. These were the MSNBC questions and wheather they would be accountable in a court of law would be another consideration.
Impeachment would have to relate to 'high crimes and misdemeanors'. The act of impeachment is nothing more than an action taken by the House of Representatives to send articles of impeachment to the full Senate for a trial.
More accurately, impeachment has to be based upon the precept that high crimes and misdemeanors have been committed. It is similar to an indictment. Indictment or impeachment (impeachment is not conviction) is not based upon opinion and should not be based upon political disagreement.
Quote:
Originally Posted by woodster
Do we think that Bill Clinton's impeachment was of the nature of high crimes and misdemeanors?
Absolutely. Perjury and obstruction of justice are indeed criminal offenses.
One thing I don't see is how the Clinton impeachment backfired on the Republicans.
That takes a while, but it usually catches up sooner or later, after John Q Public has mulled things over for a while.
The political grandstanding hurt the GOP as a group, while on the Dem side ithe damage was focused narrowly on Clinton.
The fact that it was hypocrites like Henry "Youthful Indiscretion" Hyde doing the loudest screaming damaged the GOP's attempt to portray itself as the party of ethics and morality. It certainly turned me off, and I was no huge Clinton fan.
