You may not have heard, but we’re apparently in the middle of “National Impeach Obama Week.” No, seriously. The Washington Post reported the other day that a “persistent group of activists” created the “Coalition to Impeach Obama Now!” — the exclamation point is a literal part of the group’s name — and declared this week to be the focus of their efforts. The campaign is supposed to include waving signs on overpasses.
As best as I can tell, the coalition hasn’t exactly enjoyed broad success. That said, BuzzFeed reported yesterday that Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-Texas) told his constituents that there’s a “slim” chance the House will move forward on impeachment — but President Obama’s critics will have to wait until after this year’s midterm elections.
A Republican congressman said there’s a “slim” chance that President Obama will be impeached, and if the House began impeachment proceedings, they would probably fail and cost the Republican Party a chance at winning the Senate. […][Merchant] added “the will of the American people is not there” and said if Republicans went against that and attempted to impeach Obama there would be “a violent reaction” that would keep Republicans from winning the Senate. He said Republicans should wait until after the November elections to “proceed on that question.”
I realize this chatter has largely faded from the political world’s radar. The more Republicans talked up the idea of going after Obama with a new impeachment crusade, the more Democrats raised money, prompting many GOP officials to dial down the rhetoric.
But it’s amazing how frequently this continues to come up.
Just this week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) fielded an impeachment question from a group of constituents. Instead of saying the idea was ridiculous, the Virginia Republican said his party had to proceed with “great caution” because impeachment charges would likely be rejected by the Senate.
Last week, we learned that Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) hasn’t given up on his impeachment plans. A few days prior, the Republican in North Carolina’s 6th congressional district also endorsed impeachment.
The week before that, one House Republican lawmaker and another House Republican candidate expressed their support for the same idea.
And the week before that, one GOP House member declared, “If you were to ask persons and many folks in the House, has the president violated the law and will he be worthy of impeachment, I think a fair number of people would say yes.”
All of this is just from August — which isn’t over yet — and came after Republican leaders urged the party to stop talking about the issue publicly.
And now one GOP lawmaker thinks the party can “proceed on that question” following the midterms. It’s one of those details that should probably be put aside for future use.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."