Wednesday Open Thread 8.21.13

Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R-MI) said he’s consulted with lawyers about impeaching President Obama. From BuzzFeed:

“If I could write that bill and submit it, it would be a dream come true. I stood 12 feet away from the guy and listened to him. I couldn’t stand being there, but because he is president I have to respect the office. That’s my job, as a congressman, I respect the office.”

Bentivolio said that after the encounter with Obama he returned to his office and summoned lawyers to discuss the impeachment process.

Hopefully those lawyers told him that first, you have to have an action on Obama’s part that in some realm of plausible legal theory constitutes a high crime or misdemeanor. In 1998-99, the GOP pursued impeachment BECAUSE they had plausible crimes on President Clinton’s part… perjury and obstruction of justice. Regarding Obama, they have nothing. There is no action that the President has taken that can be considered a high crime or misdemeanor. Impeachment is not a tool available to the opposition party when they do not like the President or are not in favor of his policies. It is for when the President commits a high crime or misdemeanor. And Mr. Bentivolio should know that if he writes up a bill, while there is a question of whether it passes the House, there is no doubt it fails in the Senate. So he is talking about using a nuclear weapon that is guaranteed to blow up in his face.

So, please proceed Congressman.

And now some polling goodness:

NEW JERSEY–US SENATE–Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press Poll: Cory Booker (D) 54, Steve Lonegan (R) 38.

OHIO–GOVERNOR–Public Policy Polling: Ed FitzGerald (D) 38, Governor John Kasich (R) 35.

“The closeness of the race is more of a reflection on Kasich than FitzGerald. He has a negative approval rating with 42% of voters approving of him to 47% who disapprove. That represents a 10 point net decline from our last Ohio poll in November when he was at 45/40. FitzGerald meanwhile remains unknown to most voters in the state with 62% not having an opinion about him one way or the other- among those who do have one 20% see him positively and 18% in a negative light.”

VIRGINIA–GOVERNOR–Quinnipiac : Terry McAuliffe (D) 48, Ken Cuccinelli (R) 42.

“The campaign has been light on issues and big on personalities, and it is in the area of personal characteristics that McAuliffe has a small edge. It seems obvious that Gov. Bob McDonnell’s political troubles are hurting fellow Republican Cuccinelli. Guilt by association may not be fair, but it sure is politically powerful. Trust matters and at this point neither man is doing all that well in that category.”

LOUISIANA–US SENATE–Public Policy Polling: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) 50, Rep. Bill Cassidy (R) 40.

“The key for Landrieu is that she still has a fair amount of crossover support from Republicans. 23% of them approve of her and 23% also support her in a hypothetical match up against Cassidy. That’s a lot more support than you see most Democrats managing across party lines these days, particularly in the south.”

Michael Tomasky: “If you’d asked me six months ago whether the Republican Party would manage to find a few ways to sidle back toward the center between now and 2016, I’d have said yes. But today, on the basis of evidence offered so far this year, I’d have to say a big fat no. With every passing month, the party contrives new ways to go crazier. There’s a lot of time between now and 2016, but it’s hard to watch recent events without concluding that the extreme part of the base is gaining more and more internal control.”