General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "The Senate won't remove him" - why this is a pathetically weak argument [View all]Martin Eden
(12,843 posts)Than Clinton's.
Public polling was strongly against impeaching Nixon, but what was revealed during the hearings was so damning and changed public opinion to the extent that Nixon was compelled to resign.
The big difference were Nixon's crimes, as opposed to lying about a consensual affair.
Trump's crimes are much worse but he won't resign as long as Senate Republicans are in the bag for him, but that's a given in this discussion.
Our disagreement is on how impeachment will affect the 2020 election. When Trump's crimes are more fully exposed to the public it will hurt his chances and Republicans who defend him.
Without impeachment they will crow all the louder that the Dems couldn't move forward with it because there was nothing of substance in the charges to begin with. Their claims of total exoneration will carry much more weight than acquittal by the highly partisan Senate.
If you believe Trump has NOT committed impeachable offenses that's one thing, but failing to move forward with impeachment in the face of crimes and mental pathologies which scream for impeachment would be an indictment of the Democratic House while letting the Republican Senate off the hook.
And it will take another dangerous step forward in placing the office of the president above the law.