Posted on 05/11/2019 5:10:16 AM PDT by onyx
On the left, a number of progressive lawmakers are now sounding the alarm that leadership’s strategy is not aggressive enough to confront a president they deem unfit for office. And from the center, some those vulnerable moderates are voicing fears that even the cautious approach could alienate middle-of-the-road voters — and hurt centrist Democrats at the polls next year.
“There are risks everywhere,” said Rep. Jefferson Van Drew (D), a New Jersey freshman who flipped a Republican seat in November's midterms.
Van Drew said the years-long investigative saga into Trump’s conduct reverberates with die-hard partisans — both those who adore the president and those who detest him. But “the large, amorphous body of people in between,” he cautioned, have reached a phase of “investigative exhaustion” with a cast that includes special counsel Robert Mueller and Attorney General William Barr.
“What comes up the most with those people is, in all honesty, they want it to come to an end,” he said. “Mueller, Barr the president, everybody — they sent us to Congress to get things done.”
Still, a vocal liberal faction of the party is applying pressure from the opposite side of the spectrum, arguing that Democratic leaders are going too soft on Trump and his administration — and could deflate the party’s base if they don’t get more aggressive.
“All I hear from my constituents is that we've got to get rid of this president — that's basically all I hear,” said Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), chairman of the House Budget Committee, who warned of the political risk if the Democrats’ investigations don’t produce some public results in the next few months.
“If we get to the fall and nothing's happened, and no report has been issued and no referrals have been made, then we risk demoralizing all of our people who are pushing us very hard to take action against the administration,” Yarmuth said.
Democrats upped the stakes in their face-off with the administration on Wednesday, when the House Judiciary Committee voted to recommend Barr be held in contempt of Congress. Pelosi has not said when she’ll bring the measure to the floor, but is characterizing the administration’s stonewalling as a “constitutional crisis” — a framing that’s only inflamed the liberals pressing her toward impeachment.
"We cannot allow the indication that we have a constitutional crisis to be but a mere talking point; it has to be an action item,” said Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who’s emerged as the leading advocate for impeachment on Capitol Hill. “And the constitutional solution to a constitutional crisis is impeachment.”
Pelosi has long argued against impeachment, warning that it’s simply impractical until there’s public support for it — a message she amplified on Thursday.
"Impeachment is one of the most divisive things that you can do — dividing a country — unless you really have your case with great clarity for the American people," she said.
Others are framing their opposition in even starker political terms, warning that the Democrats’ House majority is at stake. They’ve recently come to accuse Trump of trying to “goad” them into impeachment for that very reason.
“Impeachment would be a suicide mission for us. It would guarantee [Trump] reelection, possibly cost us the House, definitely, you know, jeopardize any chance in the Senate, and it would embolden [Republicans],” said one Democratic lawmaker who sits on a committee currently investigating the Trump administration.
Yet the release of Mueller’s report on Russian election meddling has been a game-changer in the eyes of even some moderate Democrats, who are now warming to impeachment. Some say they must conduct their congressional oversight duties even if it comes with a political cost.
Losing the House “would be a heavy price to pay and I hope we don't have to. But I also believe the House has customers and a role to play, and part of that role is to protect the constitutional system,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
The diversity of opinions — and the height of the stakes — has exacerbated the challenges facing Pelosi and her leadership team.
Most of her troops, including the vulnerable moderates, say she has struck the right balance in pursuing aggressive oversight — without impeachment — while keeping a continued focus on the economic agenda Democrats promised voters during last year's campaign.
"There are a lot of moderates that think impeachment may not be the answer, but oversight is essential," said one swing-district Democrat. "No one at home — even in the middle that we need to go after — is going to accept the fact that we should just walk away from our responsibilities. It is a dual track. You can't just give up one of the tracks."
Party leaders are warning that the court battles ahead will almost certainly run well into 2020, keeping the Trump investigations in the headlines at a time when moderates are hoping to focus on issues that hit closer to home.
“This is a very fundamental issue,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). “So if it takes a year and a half, that's a relatively short period of time in the course of the history of our country.”
And even as Pelosi is attempting to rein in the impeachment drum beats, her committee leaders have started to throw red meat to the base, arguing that the White House is building Democrats’ case for obstruction by stonewalling their investigative efforts, including subpoenas seeking the testimony of current and former administration officials.
More and more, top Democrats are suggesting the “I-word" is the ultimate response.
“If there is going to be this across-the-board stonewalling, we are going to have to consider extraordinary remedies,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Friday.
They are going to feel the squeeze of alot more. Death to all traitors and domestic enemies. We are coming for them!!
Really, some of this sounds like a backdoor way to get Barr to NOT investigate—or charge—the FISA abuse, Comey, Brennan, when this started, etc.
I’m not exhausted by something that hasn’t even happened yet.
For the sake of our Republic, there HAS to be a reckoning.
This is the official organ of the DemoKKKrats warning them they are in trouble across the board in 2020 and need to do something, fast.
So the Rat Freaks aren’t working hard enough against America.
Time to double down on bigotry again like your god the Fraud taught you!!!
Pretty much LS. They are frantic as the Russia Collusion Hoax is backfiring in their face. How they got here is their refusal to let go.
They flat out refused to let go because they had nothing else and kept looping back. Now all the bad juju is coming right at them.
Attacking the President won’t work, attacking AG Barr won’t work, attacking DJT Jr. won’t work.
The options are running out as the DOJ IG Report, first on Comey then the other on FISA abuse is about to crack the entirety of their years-long Twilight Zone fraud.
The damage when Americans realize they’ve been conned about the Russia Collusion Hoax won’t be forgotten any time soon. Especially, when they see the lengths gone to attempting to cover up massive crimes.
The Dems have marginalized themselves.
Trump should demand that the Media start including in their Presidential approval poll questions, the Media approval and House of Representatives Approval and release them together as one story. That will show & tell for all to see.
Thanks Rose! Wish I could have met you in TX when I was in Austin and Dallas/Ft. Worth in March.
I just ran the registration #s for May.
AZ has no updated #s, with Rs still holding a 145,000 lead. But they have to vote R. McSally lost 10% of Rs to Enema.
FL looking very good. Rs continue to eat away at the DemoKKKrat statewide lead and could possibly flip the state by 2020 at this rate.
NC similarly looking very good.
NM Rs have eaten into the big D lead, but at one point had a net gain of 10k since November 2016. Now it’s only 3k.
PA Rs had a massive 103k net gain on Ds after 2016, fell down to about 80, back up to about 84k. Overall, though, Ds have lost 250,000 off the rolls since 2016.
IA Rs have a significant advantage, but Ds closed the gap by a couple of thousand since late 2018.
NV Rs have cut into the D lead. See all the precise #s on my twit thread.
The fact that Cong. Loebsack (IA2), Sen. Udall (NM), and a New York D Cong. (forget his name) who isn’t running again due to corruption charges is a good start. OK5 has a good R candidate who should flip that seat. In addition, Stacie Abrams isn’t running for GA senate and Burrito said he would not run again in 22.
These are all small, but possibly important, indicators of where the Swamp thinks things are headed.
Not good to mock the Dem candidate for president in 2024 ... either one ..:)
Go ahead and impeach him, you delusional, satanic baby killers.
LOL!!! Good one!!
“All I hear from my constituents is that we’ve got to get rid of this president — that’s basically all I hear,” said Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), chairman of the House Budget Committee, who warned of the political risk if the Democrats’ investigations don’t produce some public results in the next few months.
Rotary guillotines with five head holes. Sigh.
I’m really discouraged by the constant Hannity ticktock, forthcoming IG report, Trump dumping the FISA warrant stuff, and all the other (what appears to be) BS that makes us MAGA partisans think that soon the piper will be paid and all the Dem crooks will be held to task, eg, Comey, Brennan, Gonnorhea (uh I mean the Claps), Yates, Struckout, Page 1, Hildabeast, and all the other Obama cronies.
I’m also discouraged by the candyass GOP reps in Congress who are sitting on their hands while the constant barrage against Trump goes on day after day. The best defense is a good offense and it appears the offense is entirely on the injured reserve list. The only agression against the left-wing commies is from Trumps tweets. Although it is too frequent and too many, he has to do that because the cowards in the GOP won’t. The dims must be called out by multiple people frequently and aggressively.
It’s belly up to the bar time. If you don’t, then the bartender is going to cut you off and you won’t even have a seat at the bar.
Unfortunately, this article and other similar ones delude us into thinking positivity is just around the corner. It ain’t.
Fortunately the Democrats have Schiff for brains.
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