Can Dems Win Without Impeachment?

Certainly, House Democrats are dead-set on the impeachment of President Trump. In fact, it can be honestly stated that they have for more than two years been on the path towards impeachment. Their latest method is called by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a preliminary impeachment “inquiry.” Never mind there is no Constitutional provision or historical example for such action. We have previously detailed the impeachment process required by the U.S. Constitution. So why would Pelosi label it as an impeachment “inquiry?” Rep. Al Green (D-TX) publicly explained that so Americans would know what impeachment’s real purpose must be when he said this: “We can’t beat Donald Trump at the polls. The only way we can defeat him in 2020 is to impeach him.” That tells us what they’re up to regarding impeachment. But this brings a question to mind: Can Democrats beat President Trump in 2020 WITHOUT impeachment?

Dems Case For Impeachment

Democrats have made significant never-before-seen moves for their attempt to impeach President Trump. In the three previous U.S. presidential impeachments, as required they all began in the House of Representatives. The process itself required a vote in the House for impeachment’s initiation. As Trump’s attorneys have stated, without that vote, the results which must contain those of a majority of House members to move forward, a “formal” impeachment process cannot begin. In all three of those historical impeachments — Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton — such a vote was taken.

That vote is necessary for very critical reasons: when the House votes to initiate impeachment, doing so triggers a process not exactly like but akin to those of a civil trial. The defendant has the right to face his or her accusers, the defense uses similar guidelines as in a civil matter, such as calling their own witnesses, subpoenas for evidence and testimony, and has the right to object to witnesses and/or the production of certain types of evidence by the opposition. Normally the defense has the power to question the accusers under oath. In the current version of impeachment floated by the Left, historical and normal precedents are not in place. Preliminarily, House Democrats have stated in the current impeachment “inquiry,” there is to be no defense authority to issue subpoenas, no cross-examination of witnesses, the calling of their own defense witnesses, or basic objections that are allowed to be included on the record. The President and his legal staff have arduously pushed-back on this unprecedented impeachment process and put House Democrats on notice that the White House will NOT comply with any of their demands unless and until the House initiates the historical process of impeachment. How? Have a full vote in the House.

As far as Democratic “ammunition” to support impeachment, the same old talking points are front and center: election collusion by the Trump Campaign, first with Russia in 2016 — which was debunked in the Mueller Report — the President’s alleged obstruction of justice, which was also debunked, and the latest allegation is Mr. Trump’s collusion with Ukraine to interfere somehow in the 2020 presidential election. Add to that Mr. Trump’s unilateral pullout of troops previously protecting Kurds in Syria which has opened up the door for Turkey to take military action against the Kurds, and impeachment cries are louder.

Leading their charge is America’s favorite Congressional litigator: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA). Schiff himself is facing a barrage of allegations of wrongdoing. Those include, but are not exclusive to, lying on numerous occasions, committing “real” collusion with members of a foreign government himself, efforts on his part to get foreign sources to provide information defamatory to the President, even though the sources of that information were known to be unreliable at best but that were knowingly unverified and unverifiable.

That now-infamous phone call between President Trump and Ukraine’s President Zelensky was what the Democrats termed the “final straw” necessary to justify their formal push for impeachment. President Trump to their chagrin immediately released the official transcript of that call which showed NO evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of President Trump. Democrats shouted to the World that in the call, President Trump threatened Ukraine with withholding of financial aid for Ukraine that Congress had already approved. That was false. Then Democrats grasped at this theory: “Mr. Trump asked Mr. Zelensky to continue Ukraine’s canceled corruption investigation of then VP Joe Biden and his son Hunter. That proves that President Trump was trying to force Ukraine to investigate Biden — Trump’s chief opponent in the 2020 presidential race. Trump’s trying to impact for his favor a foreign government to investigate Biden for the purpose of pushing Biden out of the race!”

One of the problems with that claim is that President Zelensky said there was no such request make of Mr. Trump that included any type of quid pro quo. That was confirmed by the recently resigned Special Envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker. Volker resigned that position last week but stated after that in a closed-door congressional hearing that there was NO such request from President Trump or any other request that could even remotely be construed as a bargaining attempt by President Trump.

But that’s not good enough for Democrats. When their “evidence” they are using to get Mr. Trump is debunked, they just double-down. And they have again. When that first whistleblower who wasn’t legally a “whistleblower’s” story was proven to be unsubstantiated, Democrats are ready to trot out another!

What Happens if the House Votes to Impeach?

Without over-simplification, there will be a formal investigation. Evidence of Trump’s alleged wrongdoing will be presented in the form of multiple types of evidence, the testimony of witnesses, and probable testimony by the President. Subsequent to those, charges are devised by the House Judiciary Committee. Each charge will be presented to the full House and voted on separately. If a majority of House Members vote to confirm one or more of the charges, those will be turned over to the Senate to consider. The Senate will vote to either take up each charge or decline to. The charges (if any) that are voted to be taken up will then be included in a real trial of the President. If he is convicted of any of the charges, he will then be removed from office. If not, (as in the case of Bill Clinton) the impeachment process is completed.

What Happens Then?

The President will be free to proceed with the obligations of his office in serving, presumably through the 2020 election. Of course, if re-elected he will remain in office for a second term.

The Polls

As always, one can find a presidential poll that supports pretty much any position. Normally a network considered by most to be a conservative news outlet — FOX News — released a poll Wednesday, October 9, 2019, that showed more than 50% of Americans currently support an impeachment preceding to be held to consider the removal of President Trump. The Quinnipiac Polling organization, however, released another poll that shows that 37% of Americans want impeachment to take place.

This polling process leads us to make this observation: almost every poll “tries” to poll a realistic segment of Americans whose opinions “should” reflect the majority of Americans. However, the fact that most polling segments are of at the most of 1000-2000 Americans, it is simply not pragmatic to accept that such a small section of the American population could realistically provide accurate and factual representation of ALL Americans. Who can forget polling on the very morning of the 2016 election? By almost every poll, Hillary Clinton had already won the election.

I find it hard to believe that Americans at this point want the President impeached. But who am I to say? After all, my saying so would be simply my opinion. Of course, it depends on which newscaster, which news writer, which opinion show host you read or listen to, you’ll find if not an exact 50-50 split on opinion, something close to it.

Summary

Until this apparent abandonment by the Trump Administration of the Kurds in Syria who have been guarding hundreds of ISIS fighters in jails there, I could not see a way that would lead Americans to support impeachment. The Kurd’s argument is for another day. That (just like in all political circumstances) requires a lengthy and very detailed conversation. We’ll take it up, but we’ll wait and do so in another story on another day. But the Left has been pummeling the President for doing so, even if it was one of his campaign promises in 2016. Sadly, there are Republicans who support President Trump that have come out loudly against these military actions.

The tide of American opinion on this issue could weigh heavily on how this impeachment decision goes. And as of today, it doesn’t look good for the President on that front.

However, we all know there are numerous circumstances within our country that certainly trump (no pun intended) consideration of any foreign situations. Americans have under this President determined to view the necessary functions of the U.S. government in a new light. They understand the U.S. cannot afford to police the whole world and need to allow foreign entities to be their own countries and fight the fights which they choose. This may be one of those.

War is never easy. And in wars, someone always dies. That’s a functional and horrific by-product of each war. But we did NOT pick this or any other Middle Eastern war currently underway. We have stepped in to back those considered to be our allies. This is one of those cases.

It’s too soon to make a call there.

I have always and still feel that the impeachment pending as well as the 2020 election both depend on how Americans feel about themselves, their homes, their jobs, their families, and the economy of the United States. Even with the things hanging over the U.S. that are, if these factors in an imaginery pile are leaning toward the good of Americans, President Trump will NOT be removed from office and WILL be re-elected.

That’s just my two cents!

 

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