Americans opinion on censure differs depending on how wiretaps are framed

RAW STORY
Published: Monday April 24, 2006

Two polls are facing off over whether Americans support censuring President Bush for conducting warrantless surveillance of calls placed abroad, RAW STORY has found.

The dueling polls signal that Americans are deeply divided on censure. But they also show what happens when political parties are introduced into the mix.

A Washington Post ABC News poll found that Americans didn't support censure, by a 53-45 percent margin. The poll asked: "As you may know, U.S. president George W. Bush authorized wiretaps on telephone calls and e-mails of people suspected of involvement with terrorism, without first getting court approval to do so. Democratic senator Russ Feingold has called for Congress to censure or officially reprimand Bush for doing this. Do you think Congress should or should not censure or officially reprimand Bush for authorizing these wiretaps?"

A second poll, conducted by American Research Group, Inc. in March, found that most Americans supported censuring Bush over the wiretaps. It asked -- without identifying the political affiliation of the senator who proposed the move -- whether the respondent supported censure over wiretaps obtained without "court orders."

The American Research Group poll showed that 48 percent of all voters favored censure, while 43 percent opposed.

Notably, the Washington Post poll includes a question suggesting that a decision to propose censuring Bush was purely political.

"Do you think Feingold is calling for censuring Bush mainly to use the issue for political advantage, or mainly because he believes it is the right thing to do?" ABC-Post pollsters asked.

Only one president has been formally censured -- Andrew Jackson -- for removing the U.S. government money from a private bank in defiance of the Senate.