Peering through the partisan impeachment looking glass
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Liz Marlantes Politics editor
Dear reader:
On Wednesday, Donald Trump became the third U.S. president ever to be impeached by the House of Representatives. It was, as the cable networks and scores of lawmakers keep informing us, a day for the history books.
And yet, the whole thing has felt somehow inevitable.
In part, that鈥檚 because there鈥檚 no suspense: It鈥檚 been pretty clear from the moment Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced an inquiry into the Ukraine matter that Democrats in the House would vote for impeachment 鈥� just as there鈥檚 no question that the GOP-controlled Senate will vote to acquit.
It also seems unlikely to change anything. Polls have shown very little movement throughout the process, with both sides dug in (though President Trump鈥檚 approval rating has ticked up slightly in the most recent ).
Republicans charge that Democrats have been angling to impeach President Trump from the get-go 鈥� that they never could accept the outcome of the 2016 election and are trying to overturn the will of the people.
But while it鈥檚 true that some Democrats have long called for impeachment, party leaders certainly knew this process would not result in President Trump鈥檚 removal 鈥� would not overturn the election, in other words 鈥� and might even work against them politically. They say the president鈥檚 own egregious actions in this case forced their hand.
Still, many Democrats do believe President Trump is fundamentally unfit for office, in a way that puts him in an entirely different category than every other Republican president. If the Ukraine matter had never happened (or never come to light), it鈥檚 not hard to envision an impeachment process unfolding right now over something else.
What鈥檚 harder to envision is what will happen next. If an impeached-and-acquitted President Trump wins reelection next fall, how will Democrats respond? Or if he loses, will Republicans move to impeach the Democratic winner?
In a world in which the president can send out a six-page letter that one side views as and the other , common ground seems increasingly hard to find.
Let us know what you鈥檙e thinking at csmpolitics@csmonitor.com.
Liz Marlantes, Politics editor
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