WASHINGTON — It began with Santa Cruz City Council in September and was regarded as merely another quaint episode in California history.

There is movement and it is gaining momentum. It’s not just fringe people. You’re going to see towns and cities in red states soon and that will show it’s no bicoastal affair but encompasses large swaths of the country.

Sophie de Vries, Democrats.com

The council called on the House Judiciary Committee to determine whether President Bush committed an impeachable offense by sending U.S. troops into Iraq.

Since then, the resolutions have continued to pass — from the New Mexico Democratic Party to four small towns in Vermont to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, who trumped everyone by demanding that Congress impeach both Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

This little-noticed impeachment debate is taking place as the Senate Judiciary Committee today considers a censure resolution introduced by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., a likely presidential contender in 2008. Feingold argues that Bush violated law when he authorized the interception of Americans’ communications with suspected terrorists without obtaining a warrant from a federal judge.

"There is movement and it is gaining momentum," said Sophie de Vries, who serves as impeachment coordinator for Democrats.com in California. "It’s not just fringe people. You’re going to see towns and cities in red states soon and that will show it’s no bicoastal affair but encompasses large swaths of the country."

Yet though progressive Democrats are pushing impeachment, the national party is trying to avoid a messy debate on such a divisive issue. Many Democrats are convinced that they can win either the House or Senate in November and the last thing they want is an impeachment drive that could energize Republican voters.

"I think we need to let Bush continue to hang himself," said James Ruvolo, former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. "I’m not in favor of Democrats pushing that. We ought to be talking about the issues that matter and the public gets tired of the process stuff."

Joanna Kuebler, a spokeswoman for Rep. Sherrod Brown of Avon, the likely Democratic nominee for the Senate this year, said, "Sherrod agrees there is a consistent cause for concern in the way the president wiretapped without a warrant. However, the issues that affect everyday Ohioans as he travels the state are job losses, soaring prescription-drug prices and tuition that’s out of reach for many American families . . . That is where Congressman Brown’s focus has been ."

Republicans have welcomed the impeachment calls with barely disguised gusto. With surveys showing that Americans would like to transfer control of Congress to the Democrats, GOP strategists are doing their best to warn their voters that if Democrats win, Bush could be impeached like President Clinton in 1998 when he faced charges from the Republicancontrolled House.

Senate Republicans, despite warnings from Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, to stay away from "sideshows," are pushing for a floor vote on Feingold’s resolution. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., scheduled a hearing on censure even though no other committee Democrat seemed interested in even acknowledging the existence of the resolution.

Sal Russo, a California Republican consultant, said Democrats would be "making a big mistake by going down that road. They’re appeasing the far left of their party and alienating Middle America."

Yet there is mounting pressure from Democratic activists to challenge Bush on the war and wiretaps. Although no Ohio city has passed a resolution, 10 towns, five state Democratic parties and 19 local Democratic committees have approved resolutions calling for an impeachment inquiry.

When House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told a community forum in San Francisco that she wanted to focus on the November elections instead of impeachment, she was greeted with boos.

"I think the national Democrats have their own agenda," de Vries said. "They …don’t understand impeachment would a valid tool to support taking back the House. The public is ahead of Congress."

© Copyright 2006 Columbus Dispatch

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