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mahatmakanejeeves

(56,892 posts)
5. Sorry, but no. Here's why not:
Mon Dec 30, 2019, 11:12 AM
Dec 2019
To avoid removal, Trump needs senators representing only 7 percent of the country to support him

Trump could avoid removal even if senators representing 93 percent of the country supported it.



Politics • Analysis
To avoid removal, Trump needs senators representing only 7 percent of the country to support him
The House impeachment vote, however, largely mirrored what Americans in those districts wanted.

By Philip Bump
Dec. 19, 2019 at 12:02 p.m. EST

It is the nature of a representative democracy that people will sometimes be represented by politicians with whom they disagree. Ask a Republican in New York City how they feel about their representatives or ask a Democrat, well, anywhere, how they feel about their president. It’s the trade-off of having elections.

In general, though, the system works — in part because representatives generally reflect the will of the majority of people they represent. That was largely true following Wednesday’s vote in the House of Representatives to impeach President Trump. It will probably be less true once the impeachment fight moves to the Senate.

About 53 percent of the House members who voted Wednesday supported impeachment. Because each district in the House is about the same size, that means that 53 percent of the population of the country lives in districts whose members of Congress supported impeachment.


(Philip Bump/The Washington Post)

To our original point, that doesn’t mean that everyone in those districts supported how their representatives were voting. Compared with Post-ABC News polling completed this month, the vote in the House was more strongly pro-impeachment than are Americans overall. Support for impeachment in the House edged out opposition by about eight percentage points. In our poll, support for impeachment (and removal) was three points higher than opposition.

{snip graphic}

In the Senate, where that vote on removal will take place, the picture is very different. There hasn’t been a vote on impeachment yet, and in fact most senators haven’t even stated a position on the issue. (Many, but not all, are declining to offer a position, acting under the theory that they are jurors in Trump’s impeachment trial.)

If we assume a party-line vote (which is essentially what happened in the House), 53 percent of senators would oppose impeachment — but more than half the country would live in states whose senators favored impeachment. (For these calculations, we assigned half of the state’s population to each senator to account for states with split-party senators. Independents were presumed to support removal.)
....


(Philip Bump/The Washington Post)
....

Philip Bump is a correspondent for The Washington Post based in New York. Before joining The Post in 2014, he led politics coverage for the Atlantic Wire. Follow https://twitter.com/pbump
If the Dems can get a secret ballot rule passed, it's probably game over for Deadbeat Donnie. Liberal In Texas Dec 2019 #1
Sorry, but no. Here's why not: mahatmakanejeeves Dec 2019 #5
there are two articles, at least one has to be public.... getagrip_already Dec 2019 #7
If voting by tossing cow pats into a bushel basket... Girard442 Dec 2019 #2
+1 me too! But how would it work? Numbers are still Laura PourMeADrink Dec 2019 #13
Probably wouldn't work too well any way. Girard442 Dec 2019 #24
So all senators would be secret??? Perhaps Flake snd Laura PourMeADrink Dec 2019 #27
Has/Is the Senate Parliamentarian weighed in on this idea? irisblue Dec 2019 #3
Like a secret society vote.... Historic NY Dec 2019 #4
true that.. We have a town hall form of government.... getagrip_already Dec 2019 #10
What a sad commentary IMO Raven123 Dec 2019 #6
If Republicans go for a secret ballot and acquit Trump, none will be accountable for their vote bucolic_frolic Dec 2019 #8
Exactly DENVERPOPS Dec 2019 #23
Cowards aeromanKC Dec 2019 #9
They all need to be branded by their vote and have it Mr.Bill Dec 2019 #11
Right, we're gonna reward complicity and obstruction with a secret ballot? Not on my dime. abqtommy Dec 2019 #12
Even trial jury votes are not done by secret ballot. MineralMan Dec 2019 #14
It really is silly how often the most outlandish things are proposed as a "way out" oldsoftie Dec 2019 #20
If Hamilton says they should be free of political retribution, then it's their responsibility to ancianita Dec 2019 #15
A secret ballot is the only feasible way to remove the traitor from office. Qutzupalotl Dec 2019 #16
I like your analogy pandr32 Dec 2019 #18
+1 dalton99a Dec 2019 #29
nope, just moving the goal posts. we live in a Democracy. Javaman Dec 2019 #17
Amen to that oldsoftie Dec 2019 #21
In today's political climate, Senators have wnylib Dec 2019 #19
i don't think a secret ballot would work Takket Dec 2019 #22
The Constitution makes it hard to keep Senate votes secret. onenote Dec 2019 #25
There you go again FBaggins Dec 2019 #26
This would let Senators lie about their votes fescuerescue Dec 2019 #28
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