Not sure many people realize how shrewd Pelosi et al. were w this impeachment resolution. As you all know, I don't often have occasion to compliment NP on strategy, but in this, she was very savvy- capitalizing on the GOP's insistence on open process. Now, to some degree, and has
has been noted in media, the GOP's focus on process is 1 of necessity, the substance is so terrible they can not talk about it at all. That said, Pelosi worked them on this.. Let me explain. Despite their public protestations, to the contrary, the LAST thing Rs wanted is sunlight
on the details on this scandal. The details, esp taken collectively, are, well, damning. Which is why my expectation was they planned to use their control of the senate to squelch the "trial" component as much as possible, bc folks, they have to acquit a guilty man at the end.
What *might* have happened was that the investigatory components might have happened fairly invisibly, over in the House, bc unlike the other recent impeachments, there was no investigation done so the House is doing it in real time. As such, it might have made sense to move
through this evidence gathering stage quickly & fairly quietly, knowing the senate trial would allow the public the opp to "weigh" the evidence. Pelosi used their staged outrage about process to be able to move much of the trial component to the House, where it can be visible.
Now, there is no way for McConnell to rush the acquittal through w/o a public airing of the evidence. I'm not sure people appreciate how imp this is and the effect it is likely to have on public opinion. Also, the response that will come from the acquittal. It definitely
makes McConnell's job harder. Keep in mind, at some point McConnell is going to be forced to put this on the floor & his endangered GOP senators are going to be forced to take a very unappetizing vote that will be immediately weaponized against them by their Dem opponents. The
worst way for this to go down is for the public to 1st get to see the depth and breadth of the case against Trump then see him acquitted bc its going to make those votes toxic & its going to turn the 2020 vote into a massive referendum. I think this is likely to
exasperate the enthusiasm advantage Ds already hold in 2020, bc both Ds and many Independents are going to see the 2020 election, and their participation in it, as the only avenue to put the brakes on Trump. That's known as "stakes," and high stakes are great turnout juicers.
