Majority oppose impeaching Obama

A majority of people in the United States said President Obama shouldn’t be impeached, according to a CNN/ORC International poll released Friday.

Nearly two-thirds said they are against impeachment; 35 percent said they support it.

Nearly 60 percent of Republicans said they would support moves for Obama to be impeached, as would 35 percent of independents and 13 percent of Democrats.

{mosads}These numbers, however, are basically in line with public opinion on impeachment of other presidents, CNN’s polling director said.

“Anti-impeachment sentiment is roughly where it was for past presidents — 67% opposed Bill Clinton’s impeachment in September 1998, and 69% opposed impeaching George W. Bush when a few Democrats began talking about it in 2006,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said.

A majority of people said they also oppose House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) lawsuit challenging President Obama’s use of executive power.

The poll found 57 percent said House Republicans shouldn’t file the lawsuit; 41 percent said they should.

The House Rules Committee approved a resolution to authorize the lawsuit on Thursday. The House is expected to approve it next week.

Forty-five percent of people said Obama has overstepped his bounds using his executive authority; three out of 10 said his actions are about right and 22 percent said he hasn’t gone far enough.

The poll surveyed 1,012 adults from July 18 to 20 and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.