Rep. Jay Inslee's resolution calling for possible impeachment of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has been hailed by liberals as a long-overdue move against the administration. (The P-I gave him "big ups" for the move. The resolution has
27 co-sponsors. But as of today, the list doesn't include any of Inslee's fellow Washington state lawmakers. (Oregon's four-member Democratic House delegation has signed on to the measure.)

There's no surprise that the three Republicans in the delegation aren't interested in impeaching a high-ranking Bush administration official. And it's not that state Democrats support Gonzales. Instead they side with House leadership who say impeachment — of Gonzales, President George Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney — would be a distraction from their agenda and unlikely to be successful.

The fullest answer I got to my question about Inslee's resolution came from the office of Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton, the senior member of the delegation. His longtime spokesman, George Behan, said by e-mail:

There is clearly a lot of energy among Democrats around the country who have great expectations for a Democratic-led Congress. We are trying to make up for 6 years of lax (or no) oversight of the Bush Administration and several committees in the House and Senate are looking into the war, Halliburton, the U.S. Attorney firings, political manipulation of federal agencies, contempt of Congress and various other improprieties. The pace is obviously not fast enough for many in our party, especially the liberal base. And because we have yet to do anything visible to bring the troops home from Iraq, the restlessness in the party has occasionally been manifest in anger toward the Democrats in Congress and in calls for the impeachment of Bush, Cheney and/or Alberto Gonzales.

Nancy Pelosi has been Speaker for 7 months. As much as she (and many of us) may want the American people to know the full story of how incompetent and wrongheaded this Administration has been, she has reminded people that it is exceedingly unlikely that we would ever see an impeachment process culminate in 2/3rds of the Senate voting to impeach Bush or others in the Administration. Thus she has stated her view that it would distract Americans from the more positive agenda on education, energy, the environment and, of course, the debate over the Administration's lack of any plan to leave Iraq. That's where Democrats in Congress — Including Norm — are positioned at the moment, for better or for worse.

Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Lake Stevens, doesn't support the impeachment move, said his spokeswoman, Amanda Mahnke:

Rep. Larsen has been calling for the Attorney General to resign since March — I believe he was the first member of the delegation to do so — and he supports the call by Senate leadership for an independent special counsel to investigate the Attorney General and whether he lied under oath to Congress.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Tacoma, has not ruled out supporting Inslee's move. Says spokesman Derrick Crowe:

Adam co-sponsored a resolution (H.Res.417) that expresses no confidence in the Attorney General's performance and calls for his resignation. Regarding H.Res.589 (Inslee's measure) he thinks this proposal warrants serious consideration. Impeachment is a major step and one he does not take lightly, but this is an extreme case, and he will consider it. He will listen to constituents over the August district work period and will make a decision in September over whether to co-sponsor Rep. Inslee's resolution.

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, a supporter of impeaching Cheney, supports a Congressional investigation the attorney general. Spokesman Mike DeCesare said:

Jim sent a letter, signed by all the Ds in the delegation, into DOJ calling for the IG to conduct an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the still unsolved murder of Tom Wales and the firing of John McKay in Seattle, and we look forward to that response.

In mid-May, Jim spoke about all this in the House: "At this point, I believe there are two necessary and mandatory actions that must be taken. The Attorney General must go, now. His allegiance to partisan political interests above his oath to uphold the laws of the United States is outrageous."

For some time, Jim has openly and strongly supported the on-going efforts of Committee Chairs John Conyers (Judiciary) and Henry Waxman (Oversight) to appropriately investigate the Attorney General.

The outcome of all these efforts will provide a lot of information about where things go from here.

Rep. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver, is in Iraq and his staff did not know his position.

The Los Angeles Times wrote this week that some Democrats want Gonzales to stay in office. They hope he will serve as a useful reminder of the administration's problems.

Although they may prove fruitless, the Democrats' investigative efforts may help keep President Bush and his administration the center of attention in next year's elections, even as the Republican Party chooses a new standard-bearer and tries to move on.

...

Even if Gonzales survives until Bush leaves office, strategists hope his continued presence damages GOP candidates across the country.

"This becomes a piece of the race," said David E. Bonior, a former Michigan congressman who is managing Democrat John Edwards' presidential campaign. By highlighting Bush's allegiance to Gonzales, Democrats hope to make a point about how a Democratic administration would be different, drawing "the contrast of what we have and what we could have," Bonior said.

I'm not familiar with all the co-sponsors on the impeachment resolution. But I was surprised to see California Rep. Ellen Tauscher on the list. She's fairly conservative and often finds herself criticized by the left. On this one, it was the left that helped push her to support impeachment.

Despite the establishment "big ups," there is debate on the left about whether impeaching Gonzales is enough to make up for Democrats' reluctance to go after Bush or Cheney. Inslee has been criticized along with many other Democrats for not supporting those moves and for speaking against a state legislator's attempt to push for impeaching the president and vice president. The debate rages on, as you can see in this thread from the Democracy for Washington discussion group.

Inslee's is not the only effort to remove Gonzales from office. Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen is working on a different approach.

Cohen's Articles of Impeachment for Alberto Gonzales go one step further than the Rep. Jay Inslee's H.Res. 589 which calls for an investigation of whether Gonzales committed impeachable offenses.

MORE: RonK took a look at the co-sponsors and found a fair number of rookies and moderates who will have to defend seats in swing districts.