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Watching a bad idea backfire

The more congressional Republicans have talked about suing, and possibly impeaching, President Obama, the more Democrats smiled. Now we know why.
The U.S. Capitol is reflected in water on the morning of June 11, 2014 in Washington, DC.
The U.S. Capitol is reflected in water on the morning of June 11, 2014 in Washington, DC.
By Steve Benen, Steve Benen
For the last several weeks, the more congressional Republicans talked about suing, and possibly impeaching, President Obama, the more Democrats smiled. Aaron Blake explained why: the Republican antics are "killing the GOP among swing voters."

The McClatchy-Marist College poll shows political moderates oppose the impeachment of Obama 79 percent to 15 percent. That's a stunning margin. And not only that, if the House GOP did initiate impeachment proceedings, moderates say it would turn them off so much that they would be pulled toward the Democrats. By 49-27, moderates say impeachment would make them more likely to vote Democratic than Republican in 2014. But it's not just impeachment. As we've noted before, the House GOP's lawsuit against Obama's use of executive orders is turning out to be a political loser too. In fact, it's not much more popular than impeachment. Americans say 58 percent to 34 percent that the GOP should not sue Obama, and moderates agree 67-22. Moderates also say by a 50-25 margin that the lawsuit makes them more likely to back Democrats in 2014.

Oops.
 
Congressional Republicans, by targeting the president so aggressively, probably assumed this would motivate the GOP base, if nothing else, but even that isn't entirely going according to plan. Greg Sargent, looking at the same data, explained this morning, "The poll also finds that 88 percent of Democrats say the lawsuit would make them more likely to vote for their side, while 78 percent of Republicans say the same.it.... [T]his effort may scratch the hard-right GOP base's impeachment itch, but it could end up motivating Democrats more."
 
And yet, GOP officeholders and candidates still can't help themselves.
 
Even as Republican leaders try to downplay their anti-Obama schemes, and dismiss impeachment rhetoric as a Democratic "scam," the message doesn't seem to have reached everyone in the party. Just yesterday, we heard more impeachment talk from a House GOP candidate...

Matthew Corey, the Republican challenging Rep. John Larson (D-CT) in Connecticut, said Saturday that he believes President Obama should be impeached, according to the Bristol Press. Corey said that Obama has violated the constitutional provision that gives Congress "all legislative powers" and said the president has been "breaking the oath of office." He also said he supported the House's efforts to sue Obama for choosing "what parts of a law he wants to enforce."

Rep. Steve King called into Glenn Beck's radio program this morning to discuss his confrontation last week with advocates of immigration reform. During the interview, King told Beck that it is vitally important for House Republicans to rein in President Obama for the remainder of his term so that he cannot destroy America before this nation can elect a new president "whom God will use to restore the soul of America." Saying that Republicans cannot "unilaterally disarm" by taking the threat of impeachment off the table, King declared that the GOP must work to "restrain this president so that he doesn't do serious destructive damage to our constitution" in order to allow this nation to "limp our way through his terms of office."

This sort of talk has practically become a daily occurrence. If the McClatchy-Marist data is correct, Democrats are likely hoping it doesn't stop anytime soon.