Democrats have to impeach President Trump. They have no choice. But they may be snared in their own trap.
Consider the possibility that the House Democrats do not impeach Trump. This could happen in two ways. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may conclude that an impeachment and Senate trial might actually hurt Democrats at the polls in 2020. Or – unlikely as it may seem – there may be enough “no” votes from Democrat members to have the vote fall short.
In either case, Democrats lose big time. Their more radical base will go ballistic. Failure to impeach would mean that after all the harsh accusations of criminal behavior on the part of the President, they could not find them to have risen to the level of impeachable offenses. It would be the “Russian collusion” debacle all over again.
Since Pelosi can deliver enough votes to impeach, the idea of losing the vote is not really a viable option. THAT would be the worst of all options for Democrats.
Democrats have two very bad options – to impeach or not to impeach. That is the question.
Looking at both options, it would appear that the lesser danger for Democrats is to impeach. If they do not impeach, all the accusations against Trump evaporate. Yes, they will still rant about his bad behavior. They will still accuse him of abuse of power, obstruction of justice and parking the presidential limousine in a no parking zone – but those accusations will lose all their credibility. It would be like one of those prosecutors saying that he has all the evidence he needs to convict a person, but he has decided to not move forward with an indictment.
We have to keep in mind that these are the same Democrats – and the same media – that promised the public that Trump had “no path to the presidency” and that he would most certainly be found colluding with Russians when the Mueller Report was published. It is bad enough that they are not likely to get Trump ousted from office, but they cannot walk away from an impeachment. They have painted themselves in that proverbial corner.
It is hard to know whether Pelosi & Company fully appreciated what a Senate trial might look like. Unlike all these highly-controlled and orchestrated closed-door hearings, the trial will take place in the Republican controlled Senate – and crafty Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will be calling the shots … setting the rules … writing the script. It could be a game changer.
The schedule for impeachment is uncertain at this time. Democrat congressional leaders initially led us to believe it would happen before Thanksgiving. Now they are hedging – suggesting a pre-Christmas date. Maybe no impeachment until next year.
Postponing impeachment presents yet another problem for Democrats. It makes their assurances of criminality on the part of the President seem less certain. It will consume more of the oxygen needed by the Democrat presidential candidates. It would mean a trial during the height of the primary election season.
Democrats appear to be on a roll at the moment – but they may be rolling over a political cliff.
So, there ‘tis.