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The Illinois people have wanted impeachment to begin since May 2008. From Rich:

A new statewide poll has found that 59 percent of Illinois registered voters want the Illinois Legislature to begin impeachment hearings against Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The Glengariff Group poll had Blagojevich’s job approval rating at 26 percent, while his disapproval rating was a mind-boggling 65 percent. The number of voters supporting impeachment is somewhat striking since the “I Word” has not been discussed much in the media.

* The governor’s own party has turned against him…

Even a plurality of Democrats supports holding impeachment hearings. Democratic voters said they supported the idea by a margin of 49.4 percent to 41.5 percent. Independents overwhelmingly like the proposal, backing it 63 to 24. And it’s probably no surprise that Republicans love it. A whopping 73.5 percent of GOP voters said it was a good idea, compared to just 16 percent who said it wasn’t.

* While a clear majority of Illinoisans supports holding hearings, they’re not yet convinced that Gov. Blagojevich should be removed from office, although they do appear to be moving in that direction…

A plurality of 45 percent said they supported “impeachment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich forcing him to leave office,” while 35 percent said they were opposed. Eighteen percent didn’t know.

House Republican Leader Tom Cross has gone out of his way to downplay impeachment talk in the past few weeks. Yet, 57 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of independents want the governor removed. Those numbers ought to give Cross serious pause.

Anyone who thinks Rod Blagojevich is in any position to weather this is delusional.  The people of Illinois have been ahead of the Lege for months on this issue and I think I can safely say most of them are wondering what the hell is taking so long.