Poll: Two-Thirds of Americans Disapprove of Bush's Commuting Libby's Prison Sentence

A poll taken by the American Research Group shows that 64 percent of adults disapproved of the President's commuting the prison sentence of. Lewis "Scooter" Libby while leaving his conviction intact. Even among Republicans, nearly half disapproved.

The poll was based on 1,100 telephone interviews with a random sample of adults nationwide conducted on July 3-5. The margin of error was plus or minus 3%, 95% of the time.

Overall, 64% disapproved, 31% approved, and 5% were undecided. As might be expected, there was a significant difference in the responses of Democrats and Republicans. Among Democrats, 76% disapproved of the President's action, 13% approved, and 11% were undecided. Independents expressed a similar, but slightly higher rate of disapproval, 80%, with 19% approving, and 1% undecided. Among Republicans, 47% disapproved, 50% approved, and 3% were undecided.

The pollsters also asked if people would favor a complete presidential pardon of Libby. The people polled were strongly against this idea, with 82% of Democrats, 70% of Republicans, and 97% of Independents saying they were opposed.

The White House appears to be trying to put a positive spin on the public's disapproval. In an op-ed published in Thursday's USA Today, Tony Snow, the White House press secretary, portrayed the president's decision as praiseworthy because it went against public opinion. Snow wrote, "The president was not motivated by politics in making this decision. If he had made the decision based on opinion polls, he wouldn't have lifted a finger. . . . He proceeded on the basis of principle, and arrived at a sound and just decision - knowing he would take hits in the court of public opinion, but also knowing he was doing the right thing."

The same poll from the American Research Group asked whether people favored impeaching Bush and Cheney, and showed Democrats strongly favoring impeachment, Republicans strongly disapproving, and Independents splitting in half. 69% of Democrats, 13% of Republicans, and 50% of Independents said they favored having the House of Representatives begin impeachment proceedings against George Bush. Cheney appeared to be even less popular: 76% of Democrats, 17% of Republicans, and 51% of Independents were in favor of beginning impeachment proceedings against him.

Sources:

American Research Group http://americanresearchgroup.com/

Tony Snow, "President respects justice / So he lifted excessive sentence but left convictions, fine, probation," Op-Ed, USA Today, July 5, 2007, http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070705/oppose05.art.htm