ABSTRACT
A more reasonable explanation for the change in public opinion on the specific question of impeachment is that the public came to view impeachment—after the threat of removal had ended—as comparable to what it wanted all along: censure. Probably the most commonly asked public opinion question dealing with the president and his or her performance is the "job approval" question". Recent opinion polls suggest that opposition to the William Jefferson Clinton impeachment has dissipated since the historic acquittal votes in the Senate. It is clear, regardless of the post-impeachment window dressing, that the president's opponents, particularly the House managers, aggressively sought the removal of the president during the Senate trial. It is disingenuous to suggest, as some have, that impeachment was always a form of super-censure and that the president's administration was never seriously threatened.
