In 1994, the Republicans swept into power on a populist platform, promising to make government responsive to popular demands for a balanced budget, term limits, and lower taxes. The Democrats, they said, were out of touch with the American people. Look who's out of touch now. Republicans have bristled at the charge that Clinton's impeachment smelled like a coup d'etat. But this misunderstands the complaint.
Revolutions depend on popular support and mass mobilization.
But a coup is a power grab of elites, by elites, and for elites. In coups elites topple other elites out of spite, vengeance, or the naked thirst for power. They assume that the quiescent masses will simply accept the substitution of one generalissimo for another. In a revolution the people are a central source of legitimacy for political change. In a coup the people are strictly optional.