Impeachment
The House of Representatives recently held a vote to commence impeachment proceedings against the President. 94 Democrats and one apostate Republican voted yes. 137 Democrats voted no. Since then, five Democrats who voted “no” have announced a change of mind as a result of the Mueller testimony. The impeachment campaign is a long way from a majority. That has not stopped the impeachment proponents. They are forging ahead with hearings and subpoenas. The theory is that, two years of investigation by Mueller’s team and three years of reporting by the Times and the Post notwithstanding, there must be a smoking gun out there somewhere.
The timeline is now an impediment. Nadler says he is still working at it, but the rest of the House has adjourned for a six week vacation. God knows they deserve a break. They get back September 9. I can’t envision getting Articles of Impeachment drafted, heard and voted on in less than three months. They are only in session 33 days in those three months. The Iowa caucus occurs on February 3. The Senate would be holding a hearing in the heat of the campaign, a largely irrelevant endeavor. The chances of getting 67 votes for a conviction are nil.
Why are some of the Democrats flogging a dead horse? A friend of mine believes that they think history will judge them harshly if they do not do everything possible to excise the Trump cancer from the body politic, because he is an existential threat to American democracy. I gave that theory some serious thought. I concluded that overturning the judgment of the American electorate is a more serious issue. The heart of the democratic process is that the losers respect the results of elections. I think the Democrats should be trying to figure out why 63 million voters chose the guy, warts and all.
I believe (and I think Nancy Pelosi believes) that the commencement of impeachment proceedings would guarantee a Trump victory next November. The process would energize Trump’s base and alienate swing voters.
The democratic solution to the Trump problem is to vote him out of office. I’m afraid that the current crop of candidates will not get the job done. Biden is well past his prime (if he ever had one) and all of the other candidates with double digit poll numbers are not going to sell well in flyover country. All those raised hands at the recent debates may endear them to their primary voters, but won’t sell with the rest of us. There are some candidates polling in single digits who would have a much broader appeal if they were given some air time. Media types who despise Trump may want to consider providing that exposure.
