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Week 1 Post Mueller Report: Incoherence among Dems is high. On the one hand, folks say don't impeach when we can beat Trump at the ballot box. It assumes Trump would be easy to beat. OTOH they complain the candidates suck. So is winning in '20 easy or hard?
Next, skeptics cite a poll showing impeachment net negative to start, but miss that it's higher than the prior 2 impeachments, support for it among Dems is strong & pluralities/majorities believe Trump did illegal/unethical things. Give the GOP those #s vs a Dem & they're all in.
However, a number of Dems are seeing this in straightforward terms. The Mueller Report describes rampant criminality, obscene collusion and the most impeachable set of acts any POTUS has ever done. They say impeachment is the right thing to do even if removal is unlikely.
Where Dems haven't come around yet are: 1. Understanding the negative political costs of not impeaching Trump, 2. The political benefits to Dems of impeachment w/out removal and 3. the importance of focusing on the continuing nat sec risks identified by the Mueller Report.
Not impeaching allows Trump to more effectively characterize the Russia investigation as a witch hunt b/c Mueller didn't indict and Ds didn't impeach. He will redefine reality, run a revanchist and racist cmpgn backed by a strong economy, split Indies & have a good chance to win.
Impeachment w/out removal gives Dems the benefit of having proved to the country that Trump is a crook via public hearings, playing offense v. Trump/GOP & putting them in pressure situations where there may be opportunities to force resignation, or simply putting them on record.
Putting the GOP on record for supporting a crook is arguably as beneficial politically for Dems as what the Dems did in '18 to make the GOP pay in '18 for their votes on ACA repeal and the Trump tax plan.
Equally impt, as @hillaryclinton indicates in her WAPO op-ed, to get this right, Dems have to stop viewing this as a political hot potato & instead look at the Mueller Report w/a sense of urgency in nat sec terms. If you do so, she adds, you'll have to hold Trump accountable.
HRC's simply states the reason why: if you don't hold Trump accountable, he'll give the store away to Putin. Trump is a part of the continuing nat sec threat against the US. That means impeachment must be on the table, not as a matter of justice, but to protect the nation.
Skeptics will say they believe that Trump will do everything to deliver for Putin and use his help to win in 2020, but still not favor impeachment. It's incoherent, b/c it's based on a perception of how impeachment plays politically which is not likely accurate.
The reason I can't blame skeptic Dems for their initial views is b/c of the absent Dem leadership. @SenSchumer might as well be in a witness protection program. @TeamPelosi is quite clear that she doesn't want to deal w/it & feels Mueller left her a s**t sandwich.
While the Dems struggle to find a middle ground btwn full blown impeachment and 'investigations' (whatever that means), Trump is quickly eroding any middle ground option. His refusal to cooperate w/any oversight is intended to dare Dems to impeach or capitulate completely.
The Dems have no declared strategy, unified messaging, a point person, a road map, talking points or even a set of objectives. They've not outlined anything close to what @HillaryClinton wrote in a relatively short op-ed.
While I think the Dems could change course quickly and take full control of the process of holding Trump accountable, the time to do so is not unlimited.
As one example, as @maddow asked, why on earth are we calling Barr back in for testimony? He is a hack who will use the mic to spin for Trump. Under our laws, he has no role in evaluating a criminal investigation of the sitting POTUS. Barr just has to hand over the docs.
Dems should oppose Barr coming back. Dems should bring in Mueller, OSC team, and other friendly witnesses like McCabe, Strzok, Comey, Baker etc. to force Trump to play by the Dems rules and force the GOP on the defensive. There should be a read out of the report into the record.
When I start seeing those kinds of aggressive moves, then I will become less skeptical. Presently, I see intellectual, moral and political muddle. That's generally not a good place for Dems to be.
My hope is that the boldness of @ewarren and @kamalaharris whose views bookend the moral and pragmatic cases for impeachment will win the day among the Dems. That remains to be seen.
