Can't Hear the Revolution

As I was reading Fred Hiatt's reather strange editorial earlier, I had this nagging sense that I'd read stuff like this before. During the whole Clinton impeachment trainwreck, Our Serious Washington Elite also solemnly pondered the wisdom of a course of action that the public overwhelmingly considered a complete waste of time and effort. The Punditry spoke in very serious tones about moral issues and "courage" and whatnot; the people wanted the whole ugly thing over with and forgotten, a disaster of the past and not of the imminent future.

Let's compare some polls. First, impeachment:

CBS News/New York Times Poll. December 19-20, 1998
"Do you think the Senate should hold a trial to decide whether or not to remove President Clinton from office, or do you think the Senate should work out a compromise, such as censure or a fine?"

Hold a trial        30
Compromise    66
Don't know        4

ABC News/Washington Post Poll. December 12-13, 1998
"As you may know, the House Judiciary Committee in Congress has voted to recommend that the full House impeach Clinton. Do you support or oppose the committee's vote to recommend impeachment?"

Support        41
Oppose        58
No opinion    1

And now, Iraq:

CBS News Poll. Jan. 1-3, 2007
"Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling the situation with Iraq?"

Approve         23
Disapprove    72
Unsure          5

"With the Democrats in control of Congress, what do you think they will try to do in Iraq -- increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, keep the same number of U.S. troops as there are now, decrease the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, or will the Democrats try to remove all U.S. troops from Iraq?"

Increase        12
Keep same    8
Decrease        35
Remove all    36
Unsure            9

ABC News/Washington Post Poll. Dec. 7-11, 2006.
"Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq?"

Approve        28
Disapprove  70
Unsure            2

"Do you think the number of U.S. military forces in Iraq should be increased,     decreased, or kept about the same?"

Increased    17
Decreased    52
Kept same    27
Unsure             1

Any way you slice it: the Punditry is even farther out of touch with public sentiment about Iraq than they were about the Clinton impeachment. And that is pretty damn impressive.

(Edited because I forgot to put in the PollingReport links)