You don’t have to look far to find reticent Democrats who think this whole impeachment plan has a good chance of blowing up in the party’s face, costing them both the House majority and any shot at winning the presidency in 2020. Republican fundraising numbers have gone through the roof since Nancy Pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry, and Trump’s approval numbers among Republicans haven’t budged an inch. It’s very possible that, the moment the Senate votes to acquit Trump on all charges, the president could sail towards a general election landslide that puts Washington firmly back into GOP control.
As for the White House, the plan is to start even earlier – forcing vulnerable Democrats to regret their party’s decision to try removing Trump.
From Politico:
Starting this week, Vice President Mike Pence will embark on a national tour of congressional districts represented by Democrats who’ve come out in support of the inquiry. The move comes as the administration is struggling to combat an intensifying investigation into President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
Each of the districts on Pence’s itinerary were won by Trump in 2016, making them potent targets for Republicans. The vice president will travel Wednesday to the southwest Iowa district of Rep. Cindy Axne, and Thursday he’s slated to visit the suburban Twin Cities district of another freshman Democrat, Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig. The vice president is then scheduled to barnstorm an array of battleground districts, including those held by Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger.
This is, of course, exactly what Pelosi wanted to avoid. This was why she pushed back on the Squad, Jerrold Nadler, Al Green, and the rest of the impeachment-hungry Democrats for so many months. She knew that it was going to put her moderate, red-state Democrats in trouble. As she pointedly said once, anyone with a (D) by their name could win a race in the Bronx. It’s quite another thing to win in certain Michigan or Virginia districts. And it is to those close races that the Democrats owe their newfound majority.
From all available polling, swing voters in these areas did NOT vote Democrat to see the party remove Trump from office. Win the next election? Maybe, depending on the candidate. Start up impeachment, thus nullifying 2016? No, there’s very little appetite for that. And these vulnerable Dems are going to know it when their ticket comes up in November.
Pelosi has lost control. She let the inmates take the keys to the asylum. The results are unlikely to be good.
