Posted on 07/22/2018 6:57:14 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
President Trump's performance this past week aside Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki sparked outrage among congressional Democrats in all ways but one: There's been no surge in support for impeachment.
Instead, Democratic leaders have tamped down the impeachment push in the name of political pragmatism, fending off — for now — an effort by animated caucus liberals to escalate their oust-Trump campaign following his broadly maligned joint press conference with Putin in the Finnish capital on Monday.
Not only is impeachment highly unlikely under a GOP-controlled Congress, the leaders argue, but it could undermine the chances of Democrats winning back the House in November, when they'll need to flip seats in conservative-leaning districts where voters may be put off by an aggressive offensive to topple the president.
“At this point in time it would be a distraction. There will be time for that,” said Rep. Steny Hoyer (Md.), the Democratic whip, who had moments before told reporters on Tuesday that Trump’s actions were “treasonous.”
“We need to get through this election; we need to deal with the economic issues; we need to deal with the health care issues of the American people,” Hoyer said.
The post-summit debate has highlighted long-standing tensions between liberal impeachment champions giving voice to the Democrats' anti-Trump base and party leaders warning that future efforts to check the president will be lost if Republicans keep the Speaker's gavel next year.
The divide has been fueled by liberal outside groups wary that Democrats have been too soft on the bombastic president and are at risk of deflating their core supporters — an argument underlined by last month’s stunning primary defeat of Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) to an unapologetic activist, 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who backs impeachment.
“Shouldn’t we put our democracy before party?” asked Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), who’s calling for impeachment. “Shouldn’t we put our country before machinations we have about how this could affect [elections?]”
In the eyes of Trump’s sharpest liberal critics, the president’s remarks in Helsinki — where he appeared to side with Putin over his own intelligence agencies regarding Moscow’s interference in the 2016 elections — were a pivotal moment reinforcing their belief that Trump is simply unfit to hold the office. And several Democrats delivered fiery speeches on the House floor to rally support for their ongoing impeachment campaign.
“I rise today to say to my colleagues: We have to act,” said Rep. Al Green (Texas), who endorsed an early impeachment resolution more than a year ago. “Yes, we can talk about all of the atrocities imposed upon our society by this president, but that is not enough. At some point, we have to act, and more and more people are starting to say what that action is.”
Gutierrez, who has endorsed a separate impeachment resolution sponsored by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), said he’s looking for ways to expand that proposal to include Trump’s “betrayal” in Helsinki.
“As a body, we must take action to relieve the president of his duties,” Gutierrez said.
The calls for removing Trump from office began even before the president was sworn in. They were lonely at first, but grew louder in subsequent months, particularly following Trump’s equivocal response to August’s deadly white nationalist marches in Charlottesville, Va., and again in January after the president debased African countries as “shitholes.”
There’s now evidence that the Helsinki summit is another decisive moment in the recruitment efforts of impeachment enthusiasts.
ETC...
Will the radical left force Democrat midterm candidates to go on record supporting impeachment?
Will they turn on Democrats who won't support impeachment?
Make it RAIN.
Go ahead. Try to impeach Trump.
You think the proud boys are tough?
[“Shouldn’t we put our democracy before party?” asked Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), who’s calling for impeachment. “Shouldn’t we put our country before machinations we have about how this could affect [elections?]” ]
“Shouldn’t we put our democracy before party?” asked Rep. Luis Gutierrez
What democracy is this guy a citizen?
Is there a statute of limitations on treason? We need a list of all those who faulted the Intelligence Communities assessments during the run up to the Iraq war.
Impeachment is for crimes. bammy committed crimes. Trump no.
Give the liberal critics something shiny to play with it keeps them calm.
Sounds like good cop bad cop. The WANT the impeachment calls coming out, to get their base fired up, but they also want normal people to not think it’s their top priority, as they need those votes too - even more than the nutcases.
How will the radical base react when they find out they've been played?
“Will the radical left force Democrat midterm candidates to go on record supporting impeachment? “
Yes.
And that’s when the “moderate” Democrat voter stays home, or votes GOP.
While there are no real moderate elected officials, there are millions of moderate, luke-warm Dim voters.
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