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In reply to the discussion: The case for letting senators vote secretly on Trump's fate [View all]mahatmakanejeeves
(56,892 posts)5. Sorry, but no. Here's why not:
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.
Link to tweet
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. Its 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 Wednesdays 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 doesnt 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 hasnt been a vote on impeachment yet, and in fact most senators havent 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 Trumps 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 states 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
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. Its 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 Wednesdays 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 doesnt 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 hasnt been a vote on impeachment yet, and in fact most senators havent 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 Trumps 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 states 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
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If the Dems can get a secret ballot rule passed, it's probably game over for Deadbeat Donnie.
Liberal In Texas
Dec 2019
#1
If Republicans go for a secret ballot and acquit Trump, none will be accountable for their vote
bucolic_frolic
Dec 2019
#8
Right, we're gonna reward complicity and obstruction with a secret ballot? Not on my dime.
abqtommy
Dec 2019
#12
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