Sunday, January 17, 2021

Polls on Impeachment and Trump Should Be a Wake-Up Call to Republicans

By Nick Arama Jan 14, 2021 Republicans have a lot they have to figure out as they go forward. A few Republicans like Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) have sided with Democrats on impeachment against President Donald Trump. The snap impeachment with just a vote, no real procedure or ability to present evidence was really damaging to the constitutional understanding of what an impeachment is supposed to be about. But beyond that damage to the Constitution, polls are indicating that those siding with a snap impeachment, may also be ultimately harming themselves in the process with the base. Some Republicans think if they jettison Trump quickly, they can make nice with the Democrats and help the GOP. The polls show that the base is against the impeachment as a basically a divisive pointless political effort at this point, not concentrated on helping Americans. According to the Washington Examiner, seventy-four percent said impeachment is “politically motivated to prevent the president from running again.” Sixty-five percent said Biden and Pelosi were “keeping the country divided.” It also indicated that nearly half were “less likely to vote for a member of Congress who voted to impeach.” So that’s not boding well for the political future of any Republican who lines up on the side of the question. If they think it’s helping “save the Republican Party,” it ultimately may be ending the party if the base picks up and leaves them. The polls also indicate that the base still supports Trump and they’d vote for him again. According to a poll conducted by Frank Luntz, 91 percent of Trump voters said they would vote for him again. The poll also indicated that Americans were very worried about the clampdown by Big Tech, thinking that if they can boot the president off of social media, they could do the same to anyone. 70 percent are now saying that Big Tech like Twitter, Apple and Google were too powerful and should be regulated. So that’s a bit of a reality check for the Republicans and they need to figure out where that leaves them and how to speak to the base if they want the base to be there for them in the future.

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