I hate to say this, but for as much as I'd love for "President" Donald Trump to be impeached, now is not the time. Let me explain why.
1) Mission:Impossible: While Democrats control the House and you only need a simple majority in the House to impeach a president, you need a 2/3 majority in the Senate and Republicans have a 53-47 advantage there. In other words, assuming all 47 Democrats supported impeachment, 20 of 53 Republicans would have to do the same, and that's less likely than Elvis Presley winning next week's lottery. So while being impeached by the House may look good on paper, it's not going to result in Trump being ousted from the presidency, so what really is the point?
2) Possible Backlash: When Bill Clinton faced impeachment, his approval numbers rose by 10 points. The Republican Party's net approval decreased to -26% while the Democratic Party's increased to +27%, a staggering difference of 53%! Do I really think the impact of a Trump impeachment hearing would be as great as it was with Bill Clinton? No. But do we really want to risk that, especially since there's no chance of the Senate impeaching him?
3) Bad Timing: Last I checked, 12 major Democrats had already announced they were running for president. The election is just 20 months away. We still don't know when exactly the Mueller report will be released, if we'll be able to see much of it, or what will result from the New York investigation. It could be days, weeks, or months. When Clinton underwent impeachment hearings, that entire process took roughly 5 months. If the Democratic Party focuses its attention more on impeaching Trump than on defeating him in the 2020 election, the odds increase of Trump getting the best of the eventual Democratic nominee. If, heaven forbid, Trump wins a second term, then is the time to start the impeachment process, especially if Democrats maintain control of the House and garner control of the Senate. Obsessing over impeachment now, though, could result in Democrats losing out on all three.
4) Behind Door #1: Even if a Donald Trump impeachment were possible at this point in time, look who's hiding behind door #1 in the Oval Office - Mike Pence. Pence may not be as obnoxious as Trump, as embarrassing, or as painfully ignorant, but the man's politics are just as, if not more scary than the Donald's. Trump's beliefs go any which way the wind blows. Pence is a die-hard far-right "Christian" conservative. He may be less embarrassing when overseas, but his policies will be more damaging at home.
5) Election Russian Roulette: If the election were held today, Donald Trump would not win. He'd lose: Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. There's a decent chance he'd lose Florida. Ohio would be 50-50. Arizona and Texas may even be up for grabs. While Trumpsters may still be loyal to their "leader," a majority of people has already said they'd vote against Trump in the next election. Independents are overwhelmingly against the current president. As was seen during the 2018 midterms, people aren't taking Democratic victories for granted anymore and will show up at the polls on election day. There is even a swath of self-described Republicans who are disappointed with the president and have vowed not to vote for him. An ousting via impeachment is next to impossible at this current juncture. Winning the 2020 election is not. Why go the can't-win-might-lose-both route when we definitely win one of the two?
As long-time readers should know by now, I can't stand Donald Trump - the man and the politician. Having said that, though, I think it'd be a very bad move by the Democratic Party to try and impeach him right now. It's a no-win strategy and may severely hamper our chances of winning the 2020 presidential election. Let's defeat Trump on election day, not run the risk of a President Mike Pence, and then watch as the former gets taken away in handcuffs on January 20th of 2021.
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