Will The 3 Worst Democrats In The Senate Vote To Acquit Trump? They Want To

Cover-Up by Nancy Ohanian

With the vast majority of registered voters-- including Republican voters-- saying a fair trial includes calling witnesses, it's going to be very costly for Republican incumbents up for reelection to vote against calling at least Bolton. The new Quinnipiac poll shows that 75% of voters want to see witnesses called and only 20% oppose that. Even among Republican voters, 49% want witnesses and just 43% are happy with a coverup. Among independent voters, 75% want witnesses called and just 18% agree with Moscow Mitch that there should be no witnesses.

It doesn't matter to a few incumbents in virtually one-party states. We're definitely not talking about the open seats in Tennessee and Wyoming, nor the reelection campaigns Jim Risch (ID), Mike Rounds (SD), Bill Cassidy (LA) and Jim Inhofe (OK) are sleeping through. And this is not just about the toughest races for Republicans like Susan Collins (ME), Cory Gardner (CO), Martha McSally (AZ), Thom Tillis (NC), Joni Ernst (IA)... The witness kerfuffle is suddenly putting seats the GOP didn't think they would have to fight for at risk and into the endangered category:

• David Perdue (GA)
• Dan Sullivan (AK)
• Steve Daines (MT)
• Moscow Mitch (KY)
• John Cornyn (TX)
• Lindsey Graham (SC)
• the open seat in Kansas

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McConnell is pushing for a quick end to the trial without calling witnesses. After a meeting of his members on Tuesday, he feels he has the votes to pursue the coverup that was always his intention. One of his henchmen, Mike Rounds, told reporters that they would make a final decision tomorrow.

Basically, McConnell feels he has lost Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney on the witnesses question. If one more Republican votes against a coverup-- say Lamar Alexander (TN), who is retiring-- they are in deep trouble. Unless...

There are 3 right-wing Democratic senators who would like to vote to acquit Trump if they can get away with it-- the three Benedict Arnolds who tend to vote with the Republicans whenever they can: Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Joe Manchin (WV) and Doug Jones (AL). Politico writer Burgess Everett looked into the trial from their perspective, although he calls them "moderate" instead of DINOs or conservatives or any of the words that would describe them objectively. They all want to vote with Trump but, he wrote, "It’s a decision that could have major ramifications for each senator’s legacy and political prospects-- as well shape the broader political dynamic surrounding impeachment heading into the 2020 election."

All three senators remain undecided after hearing arguments from the impeachment managers and Trump’s defense team. But they could end up with a creative solution.

One or more senators may end up splitting their votes, borrowing a move from Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), who voted for the abuse of power charge but against the one on obstruction of Congress.

Manchin said he will do that only if he “can explain one and not the other.” Jones has been mildly critical of the obstruction impeachment article and says he’s “troubled” the House didn’t fight harder to hear from critical administration witnesses.

Manchin insisted Tuesday he hasn’t figured out where he will come down. And won’t until the trial ends.

“I know it’s hard to believe that. But I really am [undecided]. But I have not made a final decision. Every day, I hear something, I think ‘this is compelling, that’s compelling,’” Manchin said in an interview. “Everyone’s struggling a little bit.”

Many in the Capitol believed Manchin had run his last campaign in 2018, freeing him to vote however he wants. He insisted he still will, but also didn’t rule out running for the Senate again in 2024: “I have no idea. I swear to God. buddy. I don’t.”

However, the most immediate pressure is on Jones, an unlikely Democratic senator from the Deep South fighting for his political life this fall with no good options: Republicans will batter him if he votes to convict the president, Democrats will rebel if he votes to acquit. In his front office on Tuesday, his phone rang repeatedly as aides answered questions about impeachment witnesses.

Jones said he hears both from Trump voters and those who loathe the president, but admitted that he hears more from people who support Trump. And he indicated he’s beginning to reach a decision-making end game, though potential consideration of new evidence could scramble any conclusions he’d reached as of Tuesday.

“I don’t think I’ve totally decided. I certainly have [been] leaning one way or the other. That needle moves” depending on the day’s testimony, Jones said in an interview. “I am leaning in certain ways but I want to hear, I truly, honestly, want to hear the entire trial.”

Compared with the chatty Manchin and Jones, Sinema’s stance is a bit of a mystery.

Like those two Democrats, she has occasionally broken with her party, including by supporting the confirmation of Attorney General William Barr in 2019, a vote that demonstrated largely where the fault lines in the Democratic Caucus currently lie. She supported Democrats’ votes for new evidence last week to “make a more fully informed decision at the end of the trial,” a spokesman said, and is undecided during the impeachment trial.

Sinema has made no comments since the trial began. She’s close with many Republicans, and some Democrats privately believe that like Manchin, she leans toward Trump more than Jones does. Still, with no public comments it’s almost impossible to tell where she will land.

...During the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in fall 2018, Democrats in tough races said they were pushing politics aside and making the decision on the merits. Only Manchin voted to confirm him, winning reelection narrowly a few weeks later.

And there’s still a variable at hand. All Senate Democrats have been pushing for a vote to hear from witnesses like former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. Jones said hearing from witnesses could make his mind “change in every number of directions.”

As for Manchin, he says he can’t vote for anything he can’t explain to West Virginians. He suggested that if Republicans reject the bid to add new evidence, it might be hard for him to explain: “I don’t know how you can call it a trial.”

He also broke pointedly with Trump’s description of his call with Ukraine President Volodymr Zelensky, in which Trump pushed for an investigation into Joe Biden: “Make no mistake about it. It was not a perfect call.”

This is what comes when Schumer and the DSCC for their shit conservative candidates picked specifically because they are so far to the right. Sinema is the perfect example. Last cycle she was the head the Blue Dogs and had the worst voting record of any Democrat in the House. Schumer recruited her to run for the Senate and cleared the field of other Democrats who wanted to run. Today she has the worst voting record of any Democrat in the Senate:

This cycle, Schumer is playing the exact same role-- undermining progressives on behalf on crappy corporate candidates like John Frackenlooper in Colorado, Sara Gideon in Maine, Cal Cunningham in North Carolina, Mark Kelly in Arizona, Republican Barbara Bollier in Kansas, Theresa Greenfield in Iowa and lobbyist Jaime Harrison in South Carolina. Count on Schumer to always find candidates who will vote with the GOP on the most crucial issues facing the Senate. And by the way, the trio we talked about above, all voted to confirm neo-fascist Attorney General William Barr.