Dorky poker analogy for those of you who like that stuff:
In poker, there's a big difference between a marginally weak hand (say, 7♣6♣) and a VERY weak hand (7♣2❤️). Likewise, there's a big difference between a somewhat strong hand (K♠J❤️) and a VERY strong hand (K♠K❤️).
In poker, there's a big difference between a marginally weak hand (say, 7♣6♣) and a VERY weak hand (7♣2❤️). Likewise, there's a big difference between a somewhat strong hand (K♠J❤️) and a VERY strong hand (K♠K❤️).
With the marginal hand (7♣6♣), you'll lose money if forced to go all-in. But you'll do fine in the context of an actual poker game, especially against hands like K♠J❤️. It has a lot of "playability": you can bluff, plus sometimes you do hit cards to make a flush, straight etc.
With the very weak hand (7♣2❤️), by contrast, you're totally hamstrung. You rarely make a real hand, and you tend to be forced to bluff too often in ways that are pretty obvious. And almost every additional decision you have to make with the hand will compound your problems.
The key to the analogy is the longer you play (imagine you have to play 100 pots with 7♣2❤️ and similarly weak hands), the worse your problems tend to become. As a one-off, it's not *that* bad (if you mostly play strong hands) but over repeated trials, your strategy falls apart.
Anyway, that's the literal sense in which i think of Republicans as "having a weak hand" on Trump/Ukraine. It's not like Mueller where the GOP had just enough going for them to run a few bluffs, occasionally trap their opponents, etc. No. They have a *very* weak hand, e.g. 7♣2❤️
What's more, they have to play this hand over and over again, on every Sunday AM talk show, in every Congressional hearing, etc. And they can't really fold it without conceding that Trump should be impeached. No predictions on what happens next, but it's a really bad position.
