Analyst Examines Impeachment Inquiry Poll Results on 2020 Presidential Race

Author and election analyst Kyle Kondik, from the University of Virginia Center for Politics, says the latest poll results are tipping toward favoring impeachment because voters can more easily grasp the issues comprising the Ukrainian controversy. The elements surrounding President Trump asking Ukrainian officials to provide political dirt on his potential Democratic opponent Joe Biden are much easier for voters to understand than the muddled and legalistic report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Kondik says. Therefore, recent polls are showing over 50 percent of Americans favoring both impeachment of the President and removal from office by the U.S. Senate. However, Kondik cautions that these early polls are volatile and can easily change. At this point, Kondik does not think there will be sufficient cross-over Republican voting in the Senate to remove Trump from office. Instead, he believes that Trump will be impeached by the Democratic House but not removed from office by the Republican Senate. Two other Presidents have had similar fates…Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson. Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency before being officially impeached. Kondik also says that voter reaction to the impeachment process is especially important in key states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio – where the Trump campaign has been focusing a great amount of time and resources. Although Ohio has turned more and more Republican in recent elections, Kondik still predicts that Ohio will be a bellwether state for 2020. He believes it is volatile depending on the public’s reaction to President Trump as the election nears. In 2016, Kondik authored “The Bellwether: Why Ohio Picks the President” – published by the Ohio University Press.