The Democratic Path
From my perspective it doesn’t matter how it’s done. Getting Donald Trump out of the Presidency by the end of 2020 is the goal, how to do it is only the details. Trump’s Presidency represents an existential threat to the meaning of America. He has broken not only the laws of the United States, but the norms, values, and traditions that America stands for. We have gone from a nation striving for grace, inclusion, and opportunity; to a nation of division, segregation, and growing income inequality. Four more years of Trump will consolidate those changes. We may not be able to recover.
From a national perspective, former FBI Director James Comey may have it right. Comey suggests that the only way to begin national healing is to vote Donald Trump out of office. Any other means, he feels, will simply cement the divisions into our political life; it is only through a national repudiation that the Trump philosophies can be ended.
But rank and file Democrats also have it right: how can we allow a man who has so abused the power of the Presidency to go unpunished. He has to be held responsible for his actions, but also because of the precedents he has created. We not only have to stop him now but we need to re-establish norms for future Presidents; the formerly unwritten rules on how a President should behave in office.
You will hear both arguments in public debate today, within the Democratic Party and among Democratic Congressmen. The House leadership, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer, both are calling for investigations but not impeachment. Others, including the new “left” Congressional Democrats, want a Presidential impeachment, and they want it now.
A technical aside: impeachment is Congress’s way of bringing the indictment that Robert Mueller felt constrained by Department of Justice regulations not to do. Impeachment is the bringing of charges, and is brought by majority vote of the House. Like an indictment, impeachment calls for a trial, with the trying body being the Senate of the United States. Two-thirds of the Senators are required to convict, with the penalty removal from office. In political terms (and it is a political rather than a legal action) it would require a majority of the House (the House Democrats could do it) then all of the Democratic Senators (even Joe Manchin) and twenty of the Republicans. Given the current evidence, twenty Republican Senators aren’t likely to cross the “Trump Line.”
Politically, and barring the revelation of some new and horrific Presidential action or crime, Donald Trump will not be removed from office. He will need to be defeated at the polls, just as Director Comey suggests. So why should the House begin the process, when it cannot be fulfilled?
The House of Representatives can serve an important role, even if the President cannot be removed. The House can serve as a continual reminder of what’s wrong with Mr. Trump’s Presidency, by highlighting the dysfunction, disinformation, and disastrous decision-making process that continues to go on. They can do this by using the Mueller Report as a basis for impeachment inquiries, revealing the details to the American people through public hearings and witness testimony.
It is one prong of a multi-layered strategy to win the 2020 election. The American people need to be reminded of what’s wrong with the Trump Presidency, but they also need to see an alternative to his policies and actions. The House can hold hearing on the President, but they also need to hold hearing on drug costs, rising health care costs, minimum wage reform, and education costs. In other words, the House needs to show the Democratic view of what America can be, not just hold up a mirror to see the horrors of the Trump Administration.
For the Democratic Presidential candidates: talk about the issues and make your case for being the President. We have a wide range of choices, growing almost daily, and we go from the extreme left of Sanders and Warren, to the extreme middle of Klobuchar, Biden, Beto and now Moulton. These candidates are getting a chance to make their case. Their statement on impeachment should all be as one: the House should proceed to investigate.
Let the Chairmen; Nadler, Schiff, Waters, Cummings and Neal do their job showing what this President is. Let the candidates do their job of showing what a Democratic Presidency will offer. Then let the voters decide, in a free, fair and unfettered election (we still have a lot of work to do there) to make the “revolution” of 2020 possible. That’s the Democratic Path.
