Random Thoughts From Marybeth

X=i

I began reading an article in Democrats.com that says a Zogby International poll shows that Americans want Bush impeached if he wiretapped American citizens without a judge's approval.

I distrust reports of poll results. I like to read all of the questions, answer options, and results myself so I checked out the site of the organization that commissioned the poll, AfterDowningStreet.org. This took a minute since I had to correct the URL in my browser's address box because the coding on Democrats.com is bad. I didn't find this poll but I did find one that was strangely similar. It's interesting how the results for both polls (53% to 42% and 52% to 43%) favor impeachment if the President did whatever the poll was asking about.

That doesn't mean the results are inaccurate but it does make me wonder about them. Would any poll asking "If the President did X, should Congress consider holding him accountable through impeachment?" As long as the questions begin with "if" it doesn't matter whether anyone thinks he did that, just whether they think X is an impeachable offense.

Still curious about the questions used, how the sample was selected, and how the poll was conducted (telephone, mail, online, face-to-face?) I went to the Zogby International site. I didn't find anything about the polls on this site either but I did find this:

ImpeachPAC today announced the formation of a Citizens Impeachment Commission to make 2006 the "Year of Impeachment."

Their goals are:
To put impeachment firmly "on the map" of national politics by demonstrating broad and significant support for the impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney for lying about Iraq.
To lobby Members of Congress to introduce Articles of Impeachment immediately.
To campaign for pro-impeachment candidates and elect a pro-impeachment majority to Congress in November.

If one of your goals is to get more press about impeachment then groups commissioning polls with hypothetical questions about it is certainly a way to get some attention.