The Fourth Possible Reason Why Trump’s Impeachment Will Not Be a Partisan

The Fourth Possible Reason Why Trump’s Impeachment Will Not Be a Partisan

Is this the best argument for Kevin McCarthy as speaker?

by Daniel Greenfield

“One of the major differences between the Trump impeachment and the Clinton impeachment was the House Speaker, who was chosen by the voters,” writes Alex Pareene in the New York Observer. “Unlike Clinton, Trump is not a partisan figure.”

Of course, and this is a fundamental difference between Clinton and Trump, Clinton’s impeachment was also supported by the House of Representatives, while Trump’s will not be—at least not yet. And the most important reason for this is that it is not clear who will ultimately put the impeachment resolution to the floor of the House, especially if Speaker Pelosi will not do it. (Pelosi could, of course, send it to the Judiciary Committee, the committee that would then move it to a committee where Democrats are more likely to have a majority.)

It is not clear that the Democratic caucus would vote to impeach Trump, no matter what.

It is not clear that the majority of the House would vote to impeach Trump.

It is not clear that the majority of the voters would vote to impeach Trump.

To some extent, this is because there is little political enthusiasm on either side of the party. A recent poll showed that more Americans now support impeaching Trump than support impeaching Clinton. While this could be evidence of a changing attitude toward impeachment, it is in no way indicative of broader public attitudes toward this issue.

It is also worth noting that public attitudes about impeachment have changed very little since the Watergate break-in.

A few months ago, some pundits were predicting impeachment would produce great political winners: Democrats who would become national leaders and the Democrats who would win the 2020 presidential race.

Pew Research Center surveys revealed three months ago that about half of adults believed Trump should be impeached while only one sixth believed he should be removed from office.

I believe that there is a fourth possibility:

A small number of the most committed Republicans in the House and Senate may see Trump as an intolerable danger

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