A Republican reality check emerges amid calls for impeachment
When former Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin said President Obama should be impeached last week, a small but a loyal following of hers on the conservative right relished the idea, though some House conservatives argue booting the president is not practical nor politically prudent.
Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, cautioned his fellow conservatives Tuesday, warning, "No one wants President Joe Biden."
At a "Conversations with Conservatives" event in Washington, D.C., Labrador added that he thinks the actions of the Obama administration do not rise to the level of impeachable offenses and pointed out that only a small number of Republicans actually favor impeaching the president.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas said he was proud that he voted for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton every chance he could, but said in today's political climate, "it's not possible" citing the complexity of the process and the near zero chance the Democratic-led Senate would vote on an article of impeachment.
Tennessee GOP Rep. John Duncan said impeachment would definitely fuel the fire of the base, but warned, "If you want to help Democrats keep control of the Senate -- this would be one way to do it." Duncan said that Republicans politically "have things going our way right now" and impeachment talk would hurt his party's chances in this fall's midterm elections.
But Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas, was all for it.
"The president deserves to be impeached," he said. Weber did acknowledge the political hurdles involved in such an undertaking. "Its not practical that we impeach him now, but he definitely deserves it."
Howard Cohen contributed to this report.
