PITY THE POOR TRUMPBOTS:

[I]f the Republican president is hoping for a public backlash like the one against the 1998 impeachment of Democratic President Bill Clinton, it has so far not worked out that way, Reuters/Ipsos polling data over the past few months shows.

In fact, the House of Representatives' impeachment investigation has fueled an equally fervent demand among Democrats to hold the Republican president accountable for his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden, according to a review of polls conducted every week since Sept. 24 when the Ukraine scandal broke. [...]

Clinton, who was impeached for lying about a sexual relationship he had with a White House intern, emerged in a stronger political position after he was acquitted in a Senate trial in early 1999.

But Americans are reacting much differently in 2019.

Trump's approval rating has hovered around 40% all year, changing little during the past three months. Furthermore, his support has been flat over the past several months among whites without a college degree - his core political base - and he was less popular in rural America in November than he was in June.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll also shows that Democrats are even more committed to impeaching Trump now than they were earlier this year and worry less about the impact it may have on the 2020 election.

While total support for impeachment has been steady over the past several weeks at around 45%, it has risen by 12 percentage points among Democrats since late September, with 78% saying in the latest poll on Dec. 9 and 10 that Trump should be impeached.

Among Republicans, opposition to impeachment has been relatively unchanged throughout the same period, with about 82% saying in the latest poll that he should not be impeached.

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