Effort to impeach Bush backfires on Newfane (pop 1,680)

After approving funds for pavement repairs and discussing new property tax assessments, the burghers of the New England community of Newfane (population 1,680) turned their attention to weightier political matters.

Among the usual community affairs on the agenda at the annual town meeting was a motion of impeachment. And the target was not locally elected officials, but George W Bush, the President of the United States.

As befits the traditionally liberal state of Vermont, the motion passed comfortably. Without any apparent concern that issues of such constitutional importance might be beyond their purview, five other nearby towns have backed similar motions in what has accordingly been dubbed America's "impeachment belt".

Such political gestures are not new to this corner of New England, much of it a "nuclear free zone", where locals look down scornfully on America's conservative heartlands. But in the current heated political climate in America, Vermont's cry for impeachment is gaining national attention.

But, ironically, it is Mr Bush's aides whose spirits have been lifted by what Vermonters see as their plucky stand. By contrast, most Democrats - torn between their desperation to appear tough on national security and a desire to lambast the President - seem to wish Vermont would pipe down.

Senior Republicans believe that they have found an unlikely and unwitting ally in Newfane's Dan DeWalt, 49, a pony-tailed musician and antiques restorer. A fierce Bush critic who maintains a running death tally from Iraq on a board by the driveway to his house, he drafted the first impeachment motion.

In Washington, Russell Feingold, a Left-wing Democrat senator considering a 2008 White House run, has launched a doomed effort to have Mr Bush censured by Congress. Mr Feingold's party colleagues have been notable by their silence on the issue, but not the Republicans.

Karl Rove, the President's chief strategist, has drafted Mr DeWalt and Mr Feingold for the Republican cause as he seeks to portray the Democrats as weak on national security - an issue that could be central in November's mid-term congressional elections that will be the starting gun for the 2008 White House race.

Mr Rove oversaw the launch of a new party television advertisement last week that sought to turn the impeachment issue to Republican advantage. At the start, a hooded man dodges through a bombed building, followed by the sounds of gunshots and a heart beating fast and scared, before a voice intones: "Terrorists declared war on our country. Today, the terrorists still fight this war."

Then the advert turns to Democrat claims that Mr Bush broke the law by approving wire taps of terror suspects in America without seeking court warrants.

"Censure? Impeachment? Is this the Democrats' plan?" the voiceover asks. Although Mr Bush's current poll ratings are poor, Mr Rove knows that nothing motivates the party faithful more than Democrat attacks on his hard line on security.

But in the impeachment belt, there are other priorities. At Putney, another town that backed the vote, the Gender Diversity Group is to meet to discuss 'alternatives to the binary gender system' and a drum band is lined up to play for 'anti-nuke groups'.

A young store assistant in a tie-dyed T-shirt was delighted by the attention on the impeachment vote. "Hey, you've got to start somewhere," he declared.

Mr Rove is glad they have.