Trump impeachment probe: More Americans feel House members driven by politics rather than duty, finds survey
The political mood in America is getting more intense as the next year’s presidential election approaches. Apart from the general political aspects, the ongoing impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump has made the script more interesting. The overall impact has been a significant interest in the presidential campaign among the common people.
However, according to a poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, more Americans are feeling anxious and frustrated compared to what it was early in June. While 54% call themselves to be frustrated, 53% are anxious, up from 42% and 44%, respectively, found four months ago.
The AP-NORC poll covering 1,075 adults was conducted between October 24 and 28 using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be a representative of the American population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus/minus 4.1 percentage points. The respondents were first selected randomly through address-based sampling methods and were interviewed later online or via phone.
And if the two main parties are taken into consideration, the Democratic camp is found to be featuring more people who are anxious and frustrated.
According to the poll, the interest is high in the campaign and while it is 82 percent among the Democrats, it is 74 percent among Republicans. Overall, 73 percent of Americans said they are interested in the campaign and it is straight seven percentage points more than what it was in June.
Democrats more anxious and frustrated than Republicans
In terms of anxiety, while 67 percent of the Democrats say they feel more anxious, it is only 45 percent among the Republicans. And in terms of frustration, 64 percent of the Dems are more frustrated than the 49 percent among GOP members.
Among the Democrats, those who call themselves liberal are more likely to say they are anxious, compared to the moderates and conservatives — 80 percent as against 60 percent.
When it comes to how people are viewing President Donald Trump, the poll said 55 percent have an unfavorable opinion about him while 40 percent said otherwise. While eight in 10 Republicans favor the president, nearly nine out of 10 Democrats do not favor him.
The AP-NORC poll also came out with some findings on how Americans are seeing the impeachment investigation against Trump over the allegations that he misused power to seek foreign help to undermine a domestic political opponent.
It said while more Americans approve the impeachment probe (47 percent as against 38 percent) against the chief executive, only a third says the inquiry should be a top priority for the Congress.
Some of the findings will not leave the Democrats an assured lot either. More Americans feel the House members are more driven by politics (53 percent) rather than by duty (47 percent) as they probe the Republican president. And to add to the Democrats’ disappointment, 42 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the job which is consistent with his approval rate throughout the tenure, irrespective of the impeachment probe.
While 85 percent of Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of the president’s job, only seven percent of the Democrats have a positive take over him as the president.