Study: Dems talk about impeachment 20 times more than GOP
Congratulations to Democrats are in order for near record-breaking fundraising based on the false notion that Republicans are going to impeach President Obama.
The problem is, they're virtually the only ones talking about the "I" word.
The Hill:
Congressional Democrats have talked about the impeachment of President Obama 20 times more than Republicans have on the House and Senate floors.
Since the start of the 113th Congress last year, Democrats have used the word “impeach” or “impeachment” regarding Obama 86 times, according to a review of the Congressional Record by The Hill.
ADVERTISEMENTUtterances on the floor from Republicans about impeaching Obama, in contrast, have been relatively rare. Only three Republicans in this Congress have raised the subject on the House floor, and the words have been used a total of four times by GOP members.
Most of the talk has come from House Democrats, with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas) alone using the words 18 times in two separate speeches late last month.
In the Senate, where the GOP hopes to retake a majority this fall, not a single Republican has mentioned impeachment on the floor over the last couple of years.
The figures highlight how impeachment has been a hot topic for Democrats, and one most Republicans want to avoid.
The campaign arm for House Democrats raised $2.1 million in online donations over a single July weekend while talking up the possibility that Republicans would impeach Obama.
Most Republicans have sought to avoid the topic, which they see as a lose-lose situation.
Talking up impeachment, the theory goes, could increase turnout among Democrats at the polls and sabotage GOP efforts to take back the Senate. But pooh-poohing the idea of impeachment looks bad to the GOP base.
Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who Republicans hope will defeat Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) this fall, dodged questions Tuesdaynight about impeachment on Fox News.
Asked by host Neil Cavuto if Obama would warrant impeachment by issuing executive orders giving legal status to undocumented workers, Cotton wouldn’t even mention the word.
“Neil, I don't want to engage in speculation about hypothetical actions the president may or may not take,” Cotton said.
Not every Republican is so shy about the subject.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Republican who could run for president in 2016, told a conservative radio show host on Monday that Obama “deserved impeachment.”
“There's no doubt” Obama “has done plenty of things worthy of impeachment,” Huckabee said.
That very well may be, but the Republican leadership is gun shy about the issue. At the moment, the calls for impeachment have come from the base - just as calls for impeachment of President Bush came from the Democrat's base.
All bets are off if President Obama amnesties millions of illegal aliens. And Obama may be counting on Republican outrage leading to calls for his impeachment when he makes the announcement of what he's decided to do on immigration next month.
In the meantime, my inbox continues to fill up with pleas for money from Democrats who want to stop Republicans from impeaching the president. As long as the money is flowing, Democrats will keep shouting about impeachment at the top of their lungs.