Monday, September 30, 2019

Framing impeachment

The Dems' success in the next election will depend on how they frame the impeachment proceedings. If they frame it as an effort to remove him from office they will loose. They will  they will loose because the GOP will circle the wagons, the Senate will vote along party lines and Trump will feel and proclaim loudly that he is innocent, that he has been vindicated, and the Dems attempted coup has been foiled by his strategic genius. That message will sell well in the red states.

If on the other hand the Dems frame it against the backdrop that the Senate will never remove him from office, they gain several advantages. First they put GOP senators on the spot since if they do vote along party lines they will confirm the Dems' narrative that they are more concerned with holding on to power than with justice, national security, corruption, abuse of power and the good of the country.  It also allows the Dems to set expectations properly; that the trump will remain in office but that his misdeeds will be laid bear for all to see; with that more modest objective, the focus can shift from Trump's removal to his abuse of public office which will help swing votes either not vote to reelect him or event vote for his Democratic rival.

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