Focus groups: Pa. swing voters see GOP targeting Biden as retaliation

• "Pennsylvania swing voters thirst for more bipartisan cooperation within Congress, and they're not getting it," said Rich Thau, president of Engagious, who moderated the focus group interviews.
• "Instead, with this impeachment inquiry, they're complaining about another cycle of political retribution."

Zoom in: Axios sat in on two Engagious/Sago online focus groups Tuesday night. Six of the swing voters who attended identified as Republicans, four as Democrats and one as independent.

• A focus group is not a statistically significant sample like a poll, but the responses show how some voters are thinking and talking about current events.

The big picture: Many of these voters have not decided whether they'll back Biden for a second term, but they aren't convinced that Republicans have articulated why he's unfit for office.

• Trump, currently leading GOP primary polls, also looms over the presidential race — despite facing four felony indictments.
• "Unfortunately I think Trump is still probably the strongest Republican candidate out there," focus group member Fred V. said.
• Most participants were aware of the declaration by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) that three GOP-led committees would begin a formal impeachment inquiry of Biden, without the House voting on the issue.

But not one had heard the House's leading Republican explain why he began the impeachment process.

• "I don't know the details, but I know it centers around Hunter Biden," Arthur T. said. "I don't know specifically what the process or what the plan is."
• McCarthy has since blamed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for setting a precedent during the Trump years that allowed McCarthy to declare an impeachment inquiry without a House vote.
• McCarthy called the inquiry the "logical next step" in a probe of the Biden family's financial dealings to "give our committees the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public."

Between the lines: Lawmakers and political analysts on both sides of the aisle said a politically motivated impeachment could be unpopular with voters and prevent Congress from tackling issues that matter most to Americans.

• "There's no evidence" against Joe Biden, focus group member Jon D. said. "It just feels like it's so out of left field, it's distracting."
• "Waste of time," Alyssa C. said.
• "When I saw the clip on the news, (I thought) ... 'Oh, for goodness sake,' " Beth B. said. "That's what was in my head."

What they're saying: Despite a majority of participants expressing no regrets for backing Biden in 2020, many are still undecided about backing him for another term.

• "I think I'll probably just end up voting on the issues and my gut feel. I'm not crazy about either [Biden or Trump], to be honest with you, but I don't have much faith in Biden," Megan M. said.
• "With Biden, I don't really ever know what he's doing and I don't have faith in him, I don't believe in him," Crismary P. said.
• "Based off of their political affiliation and some of their decisions they'd make, I would pick probably any of them over Biden," Matt S. said of the GOP candidates other than Trump.

The bottom line: Biden still needs to persuade many swing voters to turn out for him again next year, while Republicans need to make a case for why such voters should return to the GOP.

• "At this point I don't know if I want either of them," Alyssa C. said. "It's just really hard to make that decision when it comes down to it."