No impeachment now. Concentrate on keeping, or increasing the House, and perhaps

[question everything]

flipping the Senate. And, of course, kicking him out to the curb.

But if, worse comes to worse and he gets re-elected, then, on Jan, 2, or as soon as the new Congress convene, start impeachment proceeding. This way we don't need to worry about energizing his supporters.

Just a suggestion.

[Irishxs]

1. Trumpers were afraid to admit to pollsters they were voting for him in 2016,

now in 2020, they’re afraid to admit they won’t .

[sinkingfeeling]

2. I disagree.

[rustydog]

6. I agree with your disagreement

The constitution is being "Pussy-Grabbed" by Trump and his enabling GOP. The Constitution calls for impeachment for "High crimes and misdemeanors." Well, obstruction is a crime, collusion with a foreign government to affect the election is a crime.
Impeachment must start with formal investigations. It does not matter that the Democrats fear Republican-controlled Senate won't convict...THAT alone is a reason to impeach, then show the world how the GOP is pissing on the Constitution just to stay in power.

[marlakay]

9. I just spent the evening with my girlfriend

Towards the end we got political, I think we both didn’t want to get depressed.

She says no on impeachment concentrate on election and I said if we don’t impeach it’s like telling everybody they can be king as president and get away with murder. It’s like saying laws be damned.

We went back and forth, I see her point, she saw mine.

I said why can’t we do both and she said ok maybe.

I found it funny she quoted a poll on her side I quoted one on my side.

Crazy if we can’t even agree on same side what do we have?

[C_U_L8R]

3. Keep Trump back on his heels all the way to Election Day

No mercy for this creep.

[unblock]

4. By far the biggest determinant of congressional victory in a presidential election year

is winning the presidential election.

If he gets another term, we're very likely losing seats in the house and guaranteed not to win the senate.

Best way to pick up the most seats is by winning the White House.

[Fiendish Thingy]

5. Fear - based defeatism - the Constitution can't wait until 2020

Look at how much damage has been done to the separation of powers in just the past month.

If Warren can put country before party, and her shot at the White House at "risk" in order to protect the Rule Of Law, so can the rest of the Dems.

[Xolodno]

7. Impeachment backfired horrendously for the GOP when they did it to Clinton...

...with that said, this isn't about a blow job. And makes Nixon look like an novice.

But this could have a blow back effect, so I agree with you. Let's hold/gain in the House, retake the Senate and grab the Presidency.

Impeachment proceedings took forever on Clinton...and they'll take even longer with Trump. The GOP wants impeachment proceedings because they think they can control the narrative, lets not give it to them.

Yes, there is a danger that we could lose and you can kiss impeachment goodbye. But, with that said, we could impeach today, and he won't be convicted in the Senate. So either way we lose.

So the question becomes;

A. Take the risk on impeachment proceedings, knowing you have a no chance of winning, and hope that there is no blow black?

B. Hold off on impeachment and every so often drop a dead body out in public, maximizing damage to Trump?

I prefer option B. It involves less risk and we know we're already going to fail at option A.

[question everything]

11. And, we have to remember that both Nixon and Clinton (I cringe getting both

in the same sentence) were on their second term, so "alienating the base" was not a major concern.

[Poiuyt]

13. Impeachment did NOT backfire horrendously on the GOP when they did it to Clinton

It's true that his favorability went up temporarily, but then went back down to what it had been before (which was still pretty high). The GOP went on to take control of the White House right after his impeachment.

[Xolodno]

16. Incorrect.

Clinton saw both the Senate and House fall to the GOP in 1994, known as the Republican Revolution. And despite winning the election, they held in 1996.

As for the impeachment....

1998 mid-term elections
In the midst of the impeachment hearings, Clinton's approval ratings rose above 65 percent. Polls showed that many in the public did not condone Clinton's relations with Lewinsky, but they did not believe that it was grounds for removal from office. Defying predictions of congressional losses, the Democrats picked up five seats in the House of Representatives; neither party gained seats in the Senate.[140] The election represented the first time since 1934 that the party holding the presidency picked up seats in a mid-term election.[141] Gingrich resigned from office after the elections, and he was succeeded as Speaker of the House by Dennis Hastert.[140]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Bill_Clinton#Elections_during_the_Clinton_presidency

Impeachment backfired. nuff said.

[Poiuyt]

19. What happened in 1994 and 1996 is irrelevant to this discussion

That was before Clinton's impeachment.

It's true that Newt Gingrich did step down and Democrats did pick up some House seats. Maybe the impeachment damaged Republicans because they started the procedure during the stretch run of the election, maybe America could see that it was a frivolous undertaking. But consider this:

Furthermore, in the fall of 1998, at the first opportunity for voters to express their feelings at the ballot box after the House voted to begin an impeachment inquiry, the Democrats picked up five seats in the House of Representatives, an embarrassment that drove Newt Gingrich from the speaker’s office.

But consider what followed.

First, the Republicans went on to take or hold the White House in three of the next five presidential elections — including the 2016 race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

And while Democrats did gain a handful of House seats in midterm elections in 1998, the Republicans maintained control for eight more years, until disapproval of the Iraq war finally tipped Congress to the Democrats in 2006.

On the Senate side in 1998, the Republicans maintained their 55-45 majority. With the exception of a 17-month window in 2002 and 2003, Republicans controlled the Senate until 2006. In short, the Republican wave of 1994 endured for nearly a decade after the failed impeachment.

It’s true that Mr. Clinton was not removed from office, but Republicans used the fact of his impeachment as a cudgel first against his vice president, Al Gore, and later against his wife. While its impact can’t be quantified, it sure didn’t help either in their election bids.

Finally, and most important, the very myth that the 1998 impeachment hurt Republicans protects them today, when pressure to move against Mr. Trump is met with concerns about the political fallout. Clearly, we need to reconsider that myth.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/opinion/clinton-impeachment-republicans-trump.html

Considering the fact that Republicans took over the presidency in the next election, I would hardly say that "impeachment backfired horrendously for the GOP." I stand by my statement.

[Xolodno]

21. Completely disagree with that opinion piece.

And yes what happened prior to impeachment is relevant because you made this statement;

The GOP went on to take control of the White House right after his impeachment.

That is simply not factual. They already had control and were gunning for scandals and removal.

Next, Gore "lost" because he ran a crappy campaign and GWB had Karl Rove who happened to be on his game. Gore won the popular vote, but not the electoral college. He had several mis-steps that turned people off to him, sadly lower information voters, but none the less, critical mistakes, gaffs, etc. that brought him down to the level of George W. Bush.

For example;

-I invented the internet (granted he didn't say it, but he said enough for Rove to capitalize)
-Lock Box
-"sighing" at the first debate which turned people off
-Sounding like canned answers and unauthentic during the debates
-Not recognizing the effect of the right wing media.
etc.

Then of course you had Ralph Nader.

But by in far the largest mistake, Gore distanced himself from Clinton, despite having a good record and still polling above 50%.

In the case of John Kerry, Bush had the headwinds of 9/11 and the full gravity of the Iraq war wasn't realized yet. And of course, Rove's hit piece known as "swiftboating".

[standingtall]

8. If we are not going to impeach him before 2020 we will never

impeach him. Would be the same thing if he gets reelected all over again. The reasons people are giving now will be repeated in 2021 and then again in 2023. He needs to be impeached or Democrats will do permanent damage to the legacy of the party.

[standingtall]

10. We might want to ask ourselves

If we don't have the courage to impeach him. Where are we going to find the courage to do what is necessary to stop Trump,republicans and the russians from cheating to win again in 2020?

[StarfishSaver]

12. It doesn't have to be either/or

We shouldn't impeach now, but continue building the case so that if/when we do impeach, even if the Senate doesn't convict, impeachment will have some teeth, meaning and short-term electoral and long-term historical impact.

And while this is happening on one track, we should also focus on taking back the WH and Senate and holding the House in 2020.

[Quackers]

14. We need to quit redrawing the line in the sand.

He has crossed it. Enough is enough. It is time to act.

[Cold War Spook]

15. If the Democrats do not impeach Trump,

the Republicans will run on it. Trump totally innocent. Let the Republicans in the Senate acquit, then the Democrats can run on that. Get it all out in the open. Someone won't testify, hold in contempt and put in jail. Play hardball. Subpoena everyone. Not just those in the government, but everyone who knows anything about his business dealings while president. Subpoena all his books for Trump Tower and the rest. Keep him on the ropes. Keep everything transparent, let the public know everything. Keep it in the news right up to the election. Neither the Senate nor any government body can make the House vote before they are ready. Now it is time for me to go and hit the heavy bag for a while.

[tritsofme]

17. Well...it is highly unlikely Democrats could retain the House under any scenario Trump wins

And even if we did, I’m not sure what a token impeachment process accomplishes at that point, against a freshly re-elected Trump.

I generally agree with your first point, but the second doesn’t make much sense.

[uponit7771]

18. Do you think 2020 election will be more free and fair than 2016? thx in advance

[Smackdown2019]

20. I disagree

The people voted in the Democratic Control to rid out the swamp rats and take back our country from the evils of Trumpism. Our House needs to do their job and frankly it seems they are doing their job with road blocks. If a push is given from the Nazi Dictatorship, we need to push our spearhead all the way to Stalingrad!

Also! We have the POWER now, 2021 we may not and wont if we fail to do our Constitutional job to uphold the laws.

So, "Damn the torpedoes, Full speed ahead" towards impeachment!