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babylonsister

(170,962 posts)
Mon Apr 22, 2019, 06:01 PM Apr 2019

The Bad History Informing the Impeachment Debate


The Bad History Informing the Impeachment Debate
David Atkins
April 22, 2019
Cautious Democrats seeking to avoid impeaching Donald Trump are making a mangle of the past and misreading the present.

snip//

We now live in a very different era culturally and politically, faced with an entirely new category of presidential lawlessness. First and foremost, impeachment isn’t merely a political consideration: As Greg Sargent notes, it’s a matter of moral imperative regardless of the political consequences. Given what was revealed in just the redacted Mueller report, the gaze of history will not look kindly upon a Democratic Party that so clearly shirks its moral and constitutional duties. Even if it’s true that Senate Republicans will refuse to convict—and it is—future generations are unlikely to forgive House Democrats for using such an excuse to avoid impeachment.

The caution might be forgivable if the political consequences were more certain. But there is no guarantee that pursuing impeachment would carry a negative political backlash, and many reasons to believe that failing to impeach might be more detrimental to Democratic electoral chances in 2020.

There have never been fewer persuadable voters in the electorate than in today’s hyperpartisan political environment. Base turnout demands voter enthusiasm, and the base will be more enthusiastic about their party’s politicians if they are seen as putting up a fight against their opponents. While polling on the issue has been scattershot, some evidence suggests a clear majority of Democrats want to impeach the president, plus a growing number of independents.

Perhaps more importantly, there is ample evidence that the few swing voters who remain in the electorate are more motivated by populist anger than “can’t we all just get along?” anti-partisanship. Studies have shown that, while swing voters may decry partisan anger, they can’t stop being angry themselves. It makes sense: Suburban Romney voters who crossed over for Clinton because they found Trump distasteful have only moved farther from him in the years since. Many Obama–Trump crossovers in the upper Midwest now regret their decision and voted accordingly in the 2018 midterms. Those voters didn’t swing to Trump in the first place because they wanted to vote for someone nice. Insofar as it wasn’t for deplorable reasons, they desired a strong and forceful leader to shake things up. Democrats who shrink from holding impeachment hearings out of political caution will not endear themselves to voters who long to change the status quo.

Trump, meanwhile, is unlikely to garner sympathy for what he calls a political witch hunt. Welcoming Russian help in his campaign, campaign-finance violations to cover up multiple trysts with adult film stars, payoffs to tabloids to spike stories, and open corruption and obstruction of justice are not relatable actions. Further legal and congressional investigations are very likely to expose even more criminal wrongdoing, in particular about the Trump Organization’s business practices. An impeachment inquiry would likely damage Trump month after month with damning revelations. Plus, Trump’s own caustic personality, combined with authoritarian impulses and promises to prosecute his own FBI investigators for treason, will immunize him from sympathy from anyone but his already devoted base. Indeed, while more polling may be necessary to confirm the finding, at least one poll shows that in the wake of the redacted Mueller report, Trump’s approval has cratered to a record low 37 percent.

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https://prospect.org/article/bad-history-informing-impeachment-debate
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The Bad History Informing the Impeachment Debate (Original Post) babylonsister Apr 2019 OP
+1 Rudy G: "It's OK for Trump to get help from Russia" uponit7771 Apr 2019 #1
The fake prez will play the martyr card no matter what the Dems do. BigmanPigman Apr 2019 #2
tens of millions of Americans don't vote. this is where the smart ppl should be looking. Kurt V. Apr 2019 #3
Recommended. H2O Man Apr 2019 #4
Thank you for posting this. It is exactly how I feel. world wide wally Apr 2019 #5

BigmanPigman

(51,430 posts)
2. The fake prez will play the martyr card no matter what the Dems do.
Mon Apr 22, 2019, 06:15 PM
Apr 2019

We need to ignore his BS and move ahead with an impeachment probe, then televised hearings the take a vote. This is about checks and balances and the job of Congress to maintain it. The constitution and Founding Fathers were pretty clear. We likely will lose votes from Dems if we do not move on this. There are more reasons for moving forward with impeachment than not. We do not have a choice in my view. We must do this for our country and to set a precedent for our country's future.

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