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Coalition for the Constitution |
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Guest Essay
by Al McSurely
"Republicans and Independents are more and more convinced that
President Bush and Vice President Cheney have committed constitutional
abuses that "rise to the level of impeachable offenses under the
Constitution," said Al McSurely, of the North Carolina-based Coalition
for the Constitution. "The latest poll, by the respected American Research
Group, shows a major shift in the electorate from last summer. In July
of 2007, just after President Bush pardoned Dick Cheney's top aide,
Scooter Libby, only 13% of the Republicans polled said Bush should be
impeached, and 17% said Cheney should be impeached. Only four months
later, in mid-November, 30% said Bush's abuses of his power had risen to
the level of impeachable offenses under the constitution, and 27% said
Cheney's abuses were impeachable."
"The other striking change in the four months from July to
November is that 3 out of 5 Independents now believe that Bush (60%) and
Cheney (57%) have committed abuses of their powers that have risen to
the level of impeachable offenses under the Constitution. Last July,
Independents responded to a slightly different question saying that 50%
favored starting impeachment proceedings against Bush, and 51% wanted
tostart the impeachment process against Cheney."
The opinions of Democratic voters have remained relatively stable
over the four month period that included the summer political doldrums
of July and August, and then then the September-October period when
citizens begin to focus on the Presidential primaries. Republican
candidates have damned with faint praise much of the Bush-Cheney
abuses--and tried to position themselves as change agents or
house-cleaners. Some have challenged the Bush-Cheney policies directly.
"Democratic leaders have tried to argue that charging Bush and
Cheney with their Constitutional abuses would sidetrack the efforts of
the Party to reverse some of the errors and crimes of the past seven
years, and that may be reflected in the slight drop from 75% to 70%,"
McSurely said. "But the Constitution does not belong to the Democrats.
The Constitution belongs to all patriotic Americans. And it is
heartening that, in just four short months, the number of American
voters--Republican, Democratic and Independent, has risen from 45% to
55% that firmly believe that President Bush has "abused his powers as
president which rise to the level of impeachable offenses under the
Constitution. It disrespects our constitutional system to argue that
'impeachment is off the table.' The Constitution is the table."
The July and November Polls of the American Research Group
can be viewed at http://americanresearchgroup.com/impeach/.
For more information on the Coalition for the Constitution, call 919-370-4065 or email info at coalitionfortheconstitution.com |