Ohio swing voters are exasperated by impeachment push, focus group suggests

Swing voters in Ohio express exhaustion over impeachment and dismiss it as a distraction in the latest focus group from Axios.

In the Engagious/FPG focus group, 11 swing voters in the key state describe being "concerned," "uneasy," and "exhausted" by Democrats' impeachment inquiry, which was sparked by President Trump urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.

The 7 people in the focus group who voted for Trump in 2016 describe impeachment as a "never-ending drama" and part of an effort to "destroy the other party," while even a voter who backed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton concluded, "They need to be concentrating on the country, not what he's doing wrong." Another Clinton voter said "I believe in the checks and balances" but still didn't think impeachment was a good idea.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"Just drop it," another Trump voter said. "Beat Trump at the ballot box."

Of the 11 participants, 9 raised their hand when asked if impeachment is a distraction from issues most important to them.

Axios notes this stands in contrast with national polls showing rising approval for impeachment in the aftermath of the official inquiry beginning, though the sample size in this focus group is only 11 people, 7 of whom backed Trump in 2016 after voting for former President Obama in 2012. Still, just four of them said they definitely planned to vote for Trump again in 2020, and Axios writes that "if such sentiments last and play out on a larger scale across pivotal states, it spells trouble for Democrats unless they can reframe what they're trying to accomplish." Read more at Axios.