During the past few months, a plurality of Americans have come to support impeachment of President Donald Trump, according to the latest YouGov poll.
We’re split along party lines. Eighty-three percent of Democrats support impeachment, 76 percent of Republicans oppose it and independents are more or less evenly divided.
But public sentiment is definitely running against President Trump.
When asked specifically whether President Trump should be impeached if it could be proved that he suspended military aid to Ukraine in order to incentivize the Ukrainian government to investigate Joe Biden and his son, 55 percent said they’d support impeachment and only 26 percent said they’d oppose it.
The latest YouGov poll indicated that if the election were held today, a generic Democrat would get 40 percent of the vote and President Trump 36 percent, with 11 percent undecided.
But here’s something interesting. Twelve percent said that if they had to choose between Trump and a Democrat, they wouldn’t vote at all.
Maybe impeachment isn’t a mirage, as I thought. I’d still prefer the 2020 election hinge on health care, the economy, the environment, Social Security, immigration and other issues that affect the well-being of Americans.
Getting rid of Trump will accomplish little without a change in the conditions that produced Trump.
And, of course, while polls are interesting, the one that counts will be the one on Nov. 3, 2020.
Postscript
Click to enlarge.
Postscript 2 [10/7/2019}
I still think impeachment is a mistake. Impeachment of a sitting president who is running for re-election in the midst of an election campaign will be perceived as an attempt to pre-empt the voters’ right to decide.
A few months ago, the American press was full of discussion of climate change, a Green New Deal, immigrant children in cages and the possibility of Medicare for All. Now there is radio silence about these issues.
We’re in for 13 months in which vital issues are pushed aside, and discussion will be about what President Trump did or didn’t say to the President of Ukraine—not what his administration did or failed to do.
Also, there is good reason to be suspicious of the CIA role in all this. Click on the article by Matt Taibbi to see what I mean.
LINKS
Yes, Americans believe the House should be trying to impeach Donald Trump by Kathy Francovic for YouGov.
What the world thinks by YouGov Sept. 24, 2019.
The Economist / YouGov Poll, Sept. 28 – Oct 1, 2019.
Doubts About Impeachment
The Self-Set Impeachment Trap by Thomas Neuburger for Naked Capitalism
Keeping Our Eyes on the Ball by Nathan J. Robinson for Current Affairs.
Pelosi’s Impeachment Bank Shot by Matthew Continetti for the Washington Free Beacon.
I Miss Journalism by Peter Van Buren for We Meant Well.
Unasked Questions About U.S.-Ukrainian Relations by Stephen F. Cohen.
The Ukrainegate Whistleblower Isn’t a Real Whistleblower by Matt Taibbi for Rolling Stone. [Added 10/7/2019]
The Ukraine Scandal Might Be a Bad Gambit for Democrats by Aaron Maté for The Nation. [Added 10/7/2019]
A Weak Whistleblower, a Ridiculous Impeachment by Peter Van Buren for The American Conservative. [Added 10/7/2019]
Let Us Now Thank Donald Trump for Revealing Brutal Truths About How Power and Privilege Operate by Nick Gillespie for Reason. [Added 10/7/2019]
Impeachment, Brought to You by the CIA by Rob Urie for Counterpunch. [Added 10/7/2019]
Phil Ebersole's Blog 
October 5, 2019 at 9:33 am |
The fascination with polls is an interesting phenomenon in and of itself. It’s like weather forcasting, reporting the temperature, the speed of the wind, the barometric pressure, and trying to predict the likelihood of precipitation. As Bob Dylan sang, “Ya don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowin.”
The deeper question is what is the moral thing? What is right and what is wrong? How is this decided, and once decided, what if any consequences does this decision make? Donald Trump’s behavior is contrary to the UU seven principles, and the people who support his behavior and policies are also out of sync with UU principles. When this is taken into consideration one might ask, “What is a good UU to do?” Jesus said, when asked about this question, “Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” which might be contrued to mean that if you are focused on politics and polls perhaps you are missing the point which is we should be focused on what is best for the well being of humanity not on who likes or doesn’t like the job that Donald Trump is doing and whether he should keep the job.
LikeLike
October 5, 2019 at 9:48 am |
David, the vast majority of people who read this blog have no idea what Unitarian Universalism is or what its Seven Principles are. You ought to include links when you refer to UU principles so readers will know what you’re talking about.
https://www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-believe/principles
LikeLike
October 6, 2019 at 4:26 pm |
To me the moral thing is for the so called American people to be given a chance to reject Trump via an election in 2020. Trump would not be able to spin that. He could spin an impeachment to enhance his image of a purposely thwarted POTUS.
LikeLiked by 1 person
October 6, 2019 at 5:34 pm
I think so, too.
LikeLike
October 7, 2019 at 8:16 pm |
“Getting rid of Trump will accomplish little without a change in the conditions that produced Trump.”
Agreed, But consider this, from the pig today:
As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!).
Rule of law and all the rest of it aside, this lunatic needs to be removed as soon as possible to get his hands far away from machinery that can do immense damage. We are light-years beyond the point where we can afford luxuries like “popular repudiation” . It’s really very simple, now.
Also, I love your blog, but why do you waste your time with a hack like van Buren? The guy’s whole schtick is shopping grudges from his failed career to whatever right-wing sugar daddy will pay for it. Neither his judgement nor his motives are trustworthy.
LikeLike
October 8, 2019 at 8:33 am |
For impeachment to succeed, the evidence for the impeachment charges would have to be so compelling and so damning that every Democratic Senator and at least 20 Republican Senators would vote to convict.
Maybe at some point President Trump will become so unpopular that his enablers in the Senate will desert him. I doubt that any prominent Republican feels personal loyalty to Trump.
I can’t see that happening, based on anything that has been raised so far. Of course I could be wrong. The Nixon impeachment inquiry shows that impeachment is not impossible.
For now, I still see the impeachment drive as the Democrats’ excuse for the lack of a positive alternative to Trump.
LikeLike