HANOVER, N.H. — It was a night of impassioned oratory bringing together regional and national leaders of the impeachment movement, ranging from Newfane Selectboard member Dan DeWalt to presidential candidate and U.S. Rep. , D-Ohio.

Though billed as a "teach in" and held at Dartmouth College, impressionable students were far outnumbered by gray-haired veterans of a movement that began in southern Vermont and has since spread throughout New England.

John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation and author of "The Genius of Impeachment," provided the emotional centerpiece of the evening, listing the impeachable offenses he believes President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have committed and quoting the founding fathers’ support of the practice.

In writing the Constitution, Nichols said, the founders "made six references to impeachment. It’s the message in the bottle. Uncork the bottle. Impeach Dick Cheney and George Bush." 

In introducing members of a panel consisting of Kucinich, Nichols and Iraq Veterans Against the War New England coordinator Adrienne Kinne, DeWalt told the audience of 200 that the impeachment movement would field congressional candidates in Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont.  

Confirming that U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., would be a target of their efforts, DeWalt said that either he or Kinne would challenge the freshman congressman in his 2008 re-election.

"It’s not like either one of us is jonesing to go to Congress. But we feel we have an obligation to call attention to a major failing on the part of our representative," DeWalt said after the forum. "If we really believe in this, we have to act on it."

DeWalt said impeachment leaders would settle on a candidate for the race in January or Februrary.

Welch, who has been the target of Vermont impeachment supporters since last spring, received muted support from members of the panel.

Kucinich, who called Welch "a good man with a good sense of his constituency," said Democratic party leaders were putting the squeeze on all members of their caucus — be they freshmen or committee chairmen — to vote against impeachment.

Nichols said that while Welch "has not been a leader on impeachment," the congressman is moving in the right direction — particularly with his vote to support debating the impeachment of Cheney.

"We saw the impact of what the people of Vermont have already done," Nichols said, attributing Welch’s vote to the efforts of those in the audience. "The fact of the matter is those 85 members who voted with (Kucinich) already felt the heat."

The panel members were joined by several other participants in the New England Impeachment Coalition, which was formed this summer following a slew of small victories in Vermont, including the passage of a resolution in the state Senate supporting impeachment.

John Kaminski of Maine Lawyers for Democracy, Tim Carpenter of Progressive Democrats of America and New Hampshire Rep. Betty Hall, D-Brookline, spoke of their individual efforts to fight for impeachment.

Hall, a 30-year veteran of the New Hampshire house, recounted how she voted in the 1970s against a measure supporting the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.

"I have regretted that every day of my life ever since. So I said to myself, ‘I’m not going to do that again.’"

Hall has since introduced a bill supporting the impeachment of Bush and Cheney.

Forum participants spent much of their time reiterating points they have argued for years now — that to not impeach Bush and Cheney would be to permanently sully the Constitution, and that there is plenty of time left to banish the president from the Oval Office.

"People say they’re going to be gone in 14 months, but I say they can do a lot of damage in that time," Kucinich said.

"Do not listen to those who tell you it’s too late to follow the Constitution. Do not listen to those who tell you it’s politically inconvenient," Nichols said. "I say 10 minutes, 10 hours, 10 days — that’s my timeline. It’s not too late to impeach. In fact, it is exactly the right time to impeach."

Following the forum, DeWalt conceded that he and fellow panel members were preaching to the choir, but he said, "Every choir has to have practice. A well-practiced choir has to sound great."

DeWalt was joined by a number of fellow travelers from southern Vermont.

Brattleboro Selectboard member Rich Garant said that while he has not been actively engaged in the impeachment movement, he supports it in spirit and wanted to learn more from its leaders.

"How many wars do we have to get into before we slow down," Garant asked before the program started.

Steve West, who hosts WKVT’s "Live and Local" radio program, said he drove to the event primarily to hear Nichols, who he credited with convincing him of the constitutional imperative of impeaching Bush and Cheney.

"Nichols is the most eloquent and articulate voice for impeachment — more so than Kucinich, I would say," West said.

John Nirenberg, of Brattleboro, who plans to begin a march from Boston to Washington this weekend in an effort to promote impeachment, said he saw the event as a way to build resolve before taking off.

"It’s looking like a nice last learning experience before I hit the road," he said. 

This is a reprint from The Reformer.com, written by By PAUL HEINTZ, Reformer Staff