First Vote Towards Impeaching The Deranged Tyrant Passes

Damage Control by Nancy Ohanian

On Wednesday, after Jared Golden (D-ME) finally issued a last-minute-- albeit tepid-- statement backing the impeachment inquiry-- just as South Carolina Blue Dog Joe Cunningham had done Tuesday-- the only Democrats left opposing even the inquiry were GOP-lite reactionaries Jeff Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ), Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN), Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY) and Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK). One irreverent senior member of Congress confided in me that Pelosi told Peterson they didn't need his vote to pass the resolution and that he was excused from voting for it. (His district has an R+12 PVI and Trump beat Hillary by over 60 points there. MN-07 is closer to the Dakotas in every way than to the Twin Cities.) "As long as he’s willing to be the 218th vote for her as Speaker, that’s all she wants from Collin. The rest are scum." Brindisi and Horn have tough districts as well; Van Drew doesn't. [Just before the vote, Horn announced that she would vote for the resolution, a big shock all the way around. Finally, Brindisi did the right thing as well.]

• NJ-02 (Van Drew won with 52.9%)- R+1 (Trump beat Hillary 50.6-46.0%)
• NY-22 (Brindisi won with 50.9%)- R+6 (Trump beat Hillary 54.8-39.3%)
• OK-05 (Horn won with 50.7%)- R+10 (Trump beat Hillary 53.2-39.8%)

In the end, the only Democrats to vote with Trump were Jeff Van Drew and Collin Peterson. But not one Republican stood up for America today... not one. [Independent Justin Amash (MI), voted with the Democrats.] It passed 232-196.

Mike Siegel held Trumpist hardliner Michael McCaul to a 51.1% win last year. McCaul doesn't seem to have gotten the message. "Today McCaul demonstrated how he is a shameless hypocrite without core values," Mike told us right after the vote. "For weeks he has written op-eds and made public statements, arguing that the impeachment inquiry was a 'star chamber' that 'defies democracy' and was 'illegitimate' because Democrats had not held a record vote on the process. Today, House Democrats gave him an opportunity to endorse the process he was asking for, and he flatly refused. This guy stands for nothing. His days in Congress are limited."

Kathy Ellis is running against an even more clueless Trump tuchas-licker, far right crackpot and closet case Jason Smith. Smith has never opposed Trump on anything and never will-- always chasing Trump against his own constituents without a second thought. "No one is above the law, and it's time to hold the President accountable for his suspicious and unethical actions," said Ellis this morning after the vote. "Rep. Smith has always been and will continue to be a rubber stamp for the President's agenda. It comes as no surprise that he voted no on moving forward with impeachment. I would have voted the opposite-- because I believe the people of the 8th District deserve to know the truth about what our President is doing."

Jason Butler, the progressive pastor running for a House seat held by Trump ally George Holding reminded us that "Yes, Trump is popular in North Carolina, but impeachment is not a popularity contest. This is about Holding’s role as a U.S. Congressman to uphold his constitutional responsibility to ensure that President Trump be held accountable for his actions to harm the United States. As the old adage goes, those who are guilty fear the truth. Holding is not only shielding the people from the truth-- but possibly protecting a President who has broken the law."

Dana Balter, the progressive taking on Trumpist John Katko in the Syracuse area sent out a statement to her supporters after the vote: "Over the past month, it has become increasingly clear to the American people that the President of the United States abused his power by withholding military aid to Ukraine in order to pressure a foreign government to interfere in our elections. John Katko made clear with his vote today that he’s not interested in knowing the truth about President Trump’s egregious abuses of power. Nor is he interested in upholding his own oath to protect and defend the Constitution despite the fact that the very foundation of our democracy is at stake. In a stunning betrayal of the people he’s supposed to represent, Congressman Kakto chooses, yet again, to put partisanship ahead of the national security."

Trump-- as well as his Republican enablers who have now clearly and undeniably been seen putting party (and the golden calf Trumpanzee) before country and before national security-- have been whining for exactly what was passed today and yet, not one of them voted for it. Hours before the roll call, AP predicated a near party line vote, reiterating that "there was no doubt that the Democratic-controlled body would approve the eight pages of procedures on Thursday, with each side likely to lose a handful of defectors, if any... Both parties’ leaders were rounding up votes as Thursday’s roll call approached, with each side eager to come as close to unanimity as possible. Republicans said a solid GOP 'no' vote would signal to the Senate that the Democratic push is a partisan crusade against a president they have never liked. McCarthy R-CA) said he’s unaware of any Republican even 'leaning toward voting for it.' Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), a moderate who some thought might be open to backing the Democratic rules, said he would oppose them. He complained about the secrecy that Democrats have used and said he had not been pressured by GOP leaders or Trump, with whom he had a drink at a Republican fundraiser Tuesday night. 'You really can’t roll back the clock' from the time the investigation began last month, Upton said.

State Rep. Jon Hoadley is running for the seat Upton has been in entirely too long. "The Rule of Law," he told us right after the vote this morning, "is the cornerstone of American democracy and should not be a partisan issue. President Trump used military aid to pressure Ukraine to interfere in our 2020 elections, and then tried to cover it up. Congressman Upton's vote against holding the President accountable today is just another example of his willingness to put his political party before the people of Southwest Michigan. Congressman Upton has changed. Who represents our district needs to change, too."

Omaha progressive Kara Eastman noted that-- no surprise-- Don Bacon voted against the resolution today. "As usual, Donald J Bacon put his party before country today when he voted against an inquiry to determine if the President committed unconstitutional acts. This shows that his commitment is to the President and not to his district. The one bright spot of his otherwise dangerous vote is that people are calling and emailing our campaign nonstop to volunteer and donate."

Democrats were also hoping to demonstrate solidarity from their most liberal elements to their most moderate members. They argued that GOP cohesion against the measure would show that Republicans are blindly defending Trump, whatever facts emerge.

“It will show the other party has become the party of Trump. It’s really not the Republican Party any longer,” said Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI).

Democrats’ chief vote counter, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, said he believed “less than half a dozen” from his party would oppose the package. One Democrat whose vote was unclear, New York freshman Rep. Anthony Brindisi, said he’d not been pressured by party leaders to back the measure and said, “This is a decision I have to make.”

Republicans said they’d use the vote to target freshman Democrats and those from districts Trump carried in 2016. They said they would contrast their support for the rules with campaign promises to focus on issues voters want to address, not on impeaching Trump.

The House GOP’s campaign arm sent emails to reporters all but taunting some of those Democrats including freshman Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH). “Pappas wants to be a one-termer,” one said.

GOP leaders called the rules “Speaker Pelosi’s sham process designed to discredit the Democratic process” in their daily impeachment email to lawmakers.

National polling indicates most Americans favor impeachment and the number seems to grow every day. For example, a poll of registered voters in Pennsylvania released this morning by Franklin and Marshall, shows that the crucial battleground state that Trump won in 2016, is unlikely to be in the Trump column next year. Just 37% of registered voters believe Trump has done a good enough job to deserve re-election, while 59% say it is time for a change. And 57% support the impeachment process-- 47% strongly. In contrast, only 37% strongly oppose the process. Swing district Republicans are in for a hard time, particularly Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Scott Perry (PA-10) and perhaps Mike Kelly (PA-16).

According to the latest Morning Consult state by state Trump Tracking, Trump's disapproval numbers continue to grow. These states (with their net approvals) should be particularly worrisome for GOP congressional incumbents:

• Pennsylvania- minus 8
• Virginia- minus 6
• North Carolina- minus 3
• Georgia- plus 1
• Florida- minus 2
• Ohio- minus 5
• Michigan- minus 10
• Wisconsin- minus 11
• Minnesota- minus 11
• Iowa- minus 14
• Nebraska- minus 2
• Montana- minus 3
• Utah- minus 2
• Arizona- minus 4
• Nevada- minus 12

Washington congressional Republicans Jaime Herrera Beutler, Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dan Newhouse all did themselves and their constituents a disservice today by clinging to Trump in the face of so much evidence mandating an impeachment inquiry. Just before the vote, Jim Brunner at the Seattle Times reminded readers that "In March of 1974, then-Washington Attorney General Slade Gorton broke with fellow Republicans with a public call for President Richard Nixon’s resignation amid revelations of abuse of power related to the Watergate scandal. More than four decades later, with Congress poised to take a key vote Thursday to formalize an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, Gorton is once again at odds with most in his party, who have dismissed the Ukraine investigation as a partisan witch hunt. 'I reached the conclusion that there are a dozen actions on this president’s part that warrant a vote of impeachment in the House,' Gorton, the former U.S. senator, said in an interview this week at his Clyde Hill home... Gorton says he won’t back Trump in 2020."