A significant majority of Americans responding to this week's Research 2000 poll want to see some kind of investigation into the Bush administration's abuses of power.
Asked whether they would prefer a criminal investigation, independent panel, or neither in the use of the Justice Department for political purposes, torture, and warrantless wiretaps, strong majorities in every instance approved some kind of investigation, either in a truth commission type panel, or a criminal probe.
Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 4/27-30. Registered voters. MoE 2%. (No trend lines)
Question: As you may know there have been allegations that the Bush Administration used the Department of Justice for political purposes. Which of the following would you favor the most: a criminal investigation into those allegations or an investigation by an independent panel or neither?
Independent Panel 36
Criminal Investigation 29
Neither 18
Question: There have also been allegations that the Bush Administration engaged in torture in terror investigations. Which of the following would you favor the most: a criminal investigation into those allegations or an investigation by an independent panel or neither?
Independent Panel 31
Criminal Investigation 22
Neither 22
Question: There have also been allegations that the Bush Administration used telephone wiretaps against American citizens without court warrants. Which of the following would you favor the most: a criminal investigation into those allegations or an investigation by an independent panel or neither?
Independent Panel 33
Criminal Investigation 23
Neither 21
Those are significant majorities in every category for some kind of accounting into Bush administration abuses.
From the crosstabs, what is particularly notable is the number of self-identified Independents who would like to see some kind of investigation: 68 percent in Justice Department activities, 52 percent for torture, 55 percent for warrantless wiretapping--even higher numbers than among self-identified Democrats. That suggests that for many, the issue of government accountability is less partisan than many, including the traditional media, would have us believe.
Note as well, the importance of calling "torture" just that: "torture" in public polling and in media reports. Greg talks about how important it is.