Blog Post 2.1 "Impeachment"

1. Clinton had high approval ratings and his party supported him.
2. For the Clinton impeachment, the inquiry was founded "on the findings in Starr's report." However, for Trump's impeachment, the Democrats are building their case "in real time, which makes it harder to predict where the public will ultimately land."
3. Public opinion on the Clinton impeachment declined leading up to the formal announcement in December.
4. Republicans lost seats in the 1998 midterm elections because of the impeachment.
5. In the impeachment inquiry, 31 Democrats voted in favor of impeachment, but in the actual impeachment vote, only 5 Democrats voted for impeachment.
6. 10 Republican senators voted to support Clinton.
7. Deomcrats should consider that like the Democrats during the impeachment inquiry process of Clinton, many Republicans will view the inquiry as a purely political attack, and there will be overwhelming support for Donald Trump.
8. Starr's investigation into Clinton was seen as completely politically driven, and the Republicans relied solely on his findings. The Democrats looking to impeach Trump don't have a completed investigation that they are basing their inquiry off. Instead, new evidence keeps coming out about Trump.
9. "The allegations against Clinton were personal and moral, and the conduct at issue in Trump's case is much more closely linked to his power as president."

Blog Post 1.6 "Impeachment & the Public"

1. The most basic finding of the polls that have been released in the last week is that there has been an increase in support for impeachment of the president, but the majority of Americans still do not support impeachment even if they disapprove of Trump's actions.
2. The YouGov/Economist poll found that 52% of Americans said it is inappropriate for the president to request a foreign government to open an investigation into a potential political opponent.
3. 62% said that it is inappropriate for the president to threaten withholding foreign aid to a country if it refuses to "take an action which personally benefits the President."
4. The Quinnipiac poll found that there was a 5% point increase in support for impeachment overall and a 12% point increase among Democrats.
5. This poll was conducted from the day before the story of the call with the Ukrainian President broke until the day before Nancy Pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry.
6. None of the polls account for the following: changes in public opinion following Pelosi's announcement of an official impeachment inquiry, public reactions to the memo of the phone call between Trump and Zelensky, the testimony of Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire before Congress.
7. 32% of Americans are not paying attention to these developments.
8. Warren and Biden are pretty much tied at the lead.