Thread by @itaisher

1/It's interesting that people are treating Pelosi's desire to maximize Dems' electoral prospects as a base motive that puts party before country.

Some say that for Dems to make electoral calculations while criticizing Republicans for defending Trump is hypocritical.

2/What this overlooks is that because it is Trump who is threatening our country, maximizing Dem electoral prospects & protecting our country are not independent goals:

Removing Trump from office will only happen through an election in which the Dem presidential candidate wins.

3/An analogous situation: What happens when the thing that is best for you happens to also be the thing that you should do morally?

Do you not do it because it is best for you? Do you do something less effective to prove that you are not corrupted by base motives?

4/It may be true that Pelosi is not acting out of the best or right motives but that does not mean that it would be better if she did something else instead.

5/Here is a situation in which Pelosi would be open to (very serious) criticism. Suppose impeachment increases the probability Trump is not re-elected but also reduces the probability that Dems keep the House and the reason Pelosi opposes it is that she prioritizes the House.

6/But if she thinks that impeachment imperils the Dems' *presidential* prospects then it's hard to argue that she should behave differently.

7/There's a heuristic that says that seeking political gain is a base motive - in contrast to defending your country or norms.

This is often a good heuristic but it's important to note that sometimes a party's electoral interests can be aligned with what's good for the country