BTRTN: What Is Pelosi Up To With Her Impeachment Stall? [View all]

[reggieandlee]

Born To Run The Numbers provides its monthly review of December, 2019, focusing on how Nancy Pelosi is handling the impeachment Tom's take provides an interesting "point/counterpoint" to the piece posted by Steve on December 31 on the impeachment process:

http://www.borntorunthenumbers.com/2020/01/btrtn-what-is-pelosi-up-to-with-her.html

Excerpts: "Nancy Pelosi is a master of three-dimensional chess. Her decision to hold off on transmitting the articles of impeachment to the Senate is a classic case. Pelosi sized up the state of the Senate trial and saw that it was a sham. Mitch McConnell was cool to Chuck Schumer’s call for witnesses, and publicly cozied up to Trump team to organize the rules of the trial. Pelosi’s quick calculus was that McConnell had erred. He clearly should have taken greater pains to give the appearance of taking the high road in conducting a fair trial, and not been so public in his White House partnership. And the truth is, a trial without witnesses is not a good look. Americans – even a plurality of Republicans -- clearly want to see witnesses...
"There are any number of GOP Senators to whom the notion of witnesses may appeal, with varying motives. Mitt Romney has been a thorn in Trump’s side and is virtually untouchable in Utah. Susan Collins of Maine is in a daunting re-election battle, as is Cory Gardner of Colorado and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Ben Sasse of Nebraska can be a gadfly, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has already expressed discomfort with the McConnell approach...
"Might Pelosi simply hold on to the articles, perhaps forever? That seems far-fetched, but she clearly is a better chess player than Trump. But even if she gives in relatively soon, she has accomplished a few important objectives, casting doubt on McConnell’s trial and calling attention to the latest Ukraine revelations. But the pressure will ratchet up next week. A low-risk move in December becomes a high-stakes gamble in January."