Public opinion is shifting in favor of Democrats on impeachment, with new polls showing about half the nation supports a House inquiry into President Trump after revelations he pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.
A Harvard CAPS-Harris survey released Thursday shortly before the release of the whistleblower complaint confirmed the upward trend toward impeachment.
That survey found the public split at 50-50 on whether Trump should be impeached for “pressuring” the Ukrainian president to investigate Biden’s dealings in the country, including 52 percent of independents. The same poll conducted in July, around the time of Mueller’s testimony to Congress, found only 40 percent of voters overall and 24 percent of independents backing impeachment.
“The poll shows that the public has serious concern over the Trump actions,” said Mark Penn, the co-director of the Harvard CAPS/Harris survey.
“These are generally higher numbers than during the Mueller investigation and most consider his actions inappropriate, even if not impeachable,” he said.
The Harvard CAPS/Harris survey has generally been more positive for Trump throughout this presidency than other major polls.
The latest Hill-HarrisX survey found support for impeachment rising 12 points to 47 percent, against 42 percent who oppose it.
The latest NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist survey found 49 percent approval for impeachment, against 46 percent who said they disapprove.
That’s a 10-point jump in favor of impeachment over the same survey from April, around the time former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia’s election interference was released.
Independents and voters in the suburbs are shifting toward impeachment.
The NPR survey found that 44 percent of independents support impeachment, against 50 percent who said they oppose it.
And suburban voters are evenly divided, with 48 percent saying they approve and 49 percent saying they disapprove.
Democrats have been hoping to pick up new House seats in suburban districts, where women appear to be turning against the president and fast-changing demographic trends have turned once reliably Republican districts a deeper shade of purple.
Democrats had been hesitant to launch an impeachment inquiry, largely because they worried about the electoral consequences of a dramatic showdown with the White House only 13 months out from Election Day.
There are 44 “front-line” Democrats in the House considered vulnerable in 2020, 25 of whom are up for reelection in districts that Trump carried in 2016. Democrats have a 37-seat advantage in the House.
Following the Ukraine revelations, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the chairman of the House campaign arm, predicted impeachment would cost Democrats their majority in the House.
But Democrats are bullish on the early returns they’ve seen from impeachment polling, believing that public opinion will follow them if they continue to make the case.
Democrats say the controversy in Ukraine is different from the Russia probe, believing it represents a clear-cut and simple case about how the president ordered an investigation into a political opponent and the White House sought to cover it up.
“It is a simpler story to tell. It’s also more egregious,” said Kelly Dietrich, a Democratic fundraiser and the CEO of the National Democratic Training Committee.
“He invited a foreign government to interfere in our elections to investigate a political rival. Couple that with the fact that — look, I think there’s also a little bit of just fatigue on the guy. His favorable numbers aren’t going anywhere. … The narrative from the GOP is that Democrats are weak. Bullshit. We’re standing up now. We’re holding people accountable,” Dietrich added.
The whistleblower revelations have brought around some Democrats who were once impeachment skeptics, such as Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), a White House contender who had previously warned that an impeachment inquiry would rip the country apart.
But Republicans insist that Democrats are overplaying their hand here, believing that the Ukraine issue is an easy one to muddy up.
The pro-Trump super PAC Great America is already putting six-figures behind an advertisement demanding Congress investigate Biden’s role in the firing of a Ukraine prosecutor, although there is no evidence of wrongdoing here.
GOP operatives insist Trump and his campaign aren’t just grandstanding when they say they’ve been handed an electoral gift.
They believe the issue will supercharge Trump’s base, cause Democrats to abandon their focus on the economy and health care, and turn off the independents who have been gravitating away from the president.