WEST LEBANON — Not surprisingly, many people in the Upper Valley have strongly held views when asked about the current House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
Even as the official investigation is in its infancy after a Thursday vote, it may be harder to find someone who’s on the fence about impeachment than to find someone with an opinion.
But Sam Lensgraf is one of those who wants to see the process play out before making up his mind.
“I’d like to see the results of the investigation,” said Lensgraf, 26, of Lebanon, who was shopping with his girlfriend Shelby Riley on Saturday.
A registered Democrat who said he finds Trump “embarrassing,” Lensgraf supports the inquiry but added that it is important that the process be a fair one.
“I am a registered Democrat, but I see some of the ideas Republicans are fighting for,” Lensgraf said about the GOP’s demand for open hearings.
Alison Campion, of Hanover, also supported the inquiry, but she stopped short of declaring Trump’s actions impeachable just yet, including allegations that he used U.S. military aid to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate political rival Joe Biden.
“I think impeachment is a constitutional process that has every right to go on,” she said. “It is good for Congress and the need for checks and balances.”
When asked if she’d made up her mind on impeachment, Campion said her political leanings do not support Trump but that should not be a reason to favor his removal from office.
“I think should you should follow what is an impeachable offense and not just, ‘We don’t like him,’ ” Campion, 26, said after shopping at Kohl’s. “It is hard to tell until they draw up the papers. Looks like there is plenty that he has done that is impeachable, but I need to see the process.”
Others interviewed on Saturday were not nearly as diplomatic.
“It is a farce. He didn’t do anything wrong,” William Verboncoeur, 61, of North Springfield, Vt., said of Trump while waiting in his car at Market Basket in Claremont.
Though many Republicans have alleged Democrats are trying to “reverse” the 2016 election, Verboncoeur said he thought it was more accurate to say they were trying to affect the 2020 election.
“They know they can’t win on the merits. I think they are doing a great disservice to this country.”
A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, reflects the sharply divided sentiment in the country, mostly along partisan lines, on whether Trump should be impeached.
The poll showed 49% favor Trump’s impeachment and removal from office while 47% do not. Predictably, the split runs along party lines, and Democrats support removing Trump, 82% to 13% opposed, while it is almost the opposite for Republicans, 82% to 18%. For independents, the numbers are 47% for and 49% against to removal.
SueAnn Starr, 57, of Ludlow, Vt., who was in Claremont on Saturday, is one of those holding a minority view in her party.
“I am a registered Republican,” Starr said, though she acknowledged voting for candidates in both major parties.
“I support it,” Starr said about impeachment. “Basically, I never cared for the man and don’t think he should be in office.”
Shelby Riley, in West Lebanon with Lensgraf, was equally firm in her view.
“I think he absolutely should be impeached,” Riley said. “This latest thing he had done, using his power to gain more power. It is crazy.”
And while Alford LeBlanc, 77, of Sunapee, said he does not go along with impeachment and claims the Democrats have been out to get Trump since he was elected, Laurence Williamson, of Acworth, N.H., who was shopping in Claremont, said he wants to “throw the (expletive) in jail.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
