What 100 House GOP dropouts in Trump era means for impeachment

[babylonsister]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/trump-s-house-gop-down-100-members-ahead-impeachment-fight-n1079431


What 100 House GOP dropouts in Trump era means for impeachment
As public impeachment hearings begin, a look at the number of House Republicans who have left office since the start of the Trump administration.
Trump's House GOP is down 100 members ahead of impeachment fight
Nov. 10, 2019, 10:02 AM EST
By Dante Chinni

snip//

A good number of changes in the Republican House, 36 of them, came through election defeats. But overall, the departures are being driven more heavily by retirements and resignations. Half the Republican House turnover has come via voluntary exit — 50 departures. And there was a lot of experience on that list.

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, a 10-term veteran, bowed out on his own. And 10 other Republican members who had served at least four terms in the House retired with their seats remaining Republican. That is, they were not in real danger of losing — they just walked away and let different people take the reins.

And more departures are likely on the way. We are heading into the holidays and the new year, always a prime time for members to announce that they are not seeking reelection.

Keep these changes in mind this week when the House impeachment trial becomes a public affair. There has been a lot of turnover in the House in the past few years, and not just in terms of partisanship. The president's own party in the chamber looks very different from when he arrived in Washington.

The House Republicans have less institutional memory and more new faces than they did a few years ago — and those new faces have come to Congress in Trump's Washington. That's likely to have some impact when temperatures and rhetoric rise around impeachment.

[2naSalit]

1. Excellent points...nt

[Wounded Bear]

2. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that is a good thing overall...

sure, it got us the majority and that can't be minimized, but what's left are the die hard fanatical Trumplodytes whose sole goal is preserving the Trump ascendancy. They will most assuredly try to turn the impeachment hearings into a circus side show, complete with clown noses and bulb horns.

If only the Repub contingent in the Senate would catch the same "homesickness."

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Dead Solid

We may have had somewhat reasonable Rs replaced by truculent, intransigent radicals.

[moreland01]

4. We need to work nonstop

to end gerrymandering and voter suppression, and insist on traceable paper ballots. In addition, fix Facebook and other social media platforms in relation to their spread of hate and fake stories. So much to do when we get in control again.

[Texin]

8. Good luck with that. With all the incoming right wingnut judges tRump's installing.

Maybe I should have rephrased that as McConnell is installing.

[mountain grammy]

5. yes, exactly!

[lindysalsagal]

13. Right. No memory of how the houses came together in the past.

Not good that they're all newbies.

[packman]

6. The Senate - If there was 50 or so GOP Senators leaving

I would rejoice and dance in the streets

[Lonestarblue]

7. NYT has an interesting piece today on the Republican Party.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/10/opinion/impeachment-polls-republicans.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

The gist of the opinion is that public opinion polls are no longer the drivers of Republican Party policies and have not been for decades. The drivers are wealth and power, and Republicans lie constantly to fool their supporters into believing that they are doing things for the populace when they clearly are not. They have effectively used wedge issues like abortion, homophobia, racism, and hatred of immigrants to keep being elected, along with gerrymandering and extensive voter suppression. The writer cites a number of instances where Republicans went against public opinion, such as Clinton’s impeachment, and lost some elections as a result but have nevertheless been able to maintain their base.

Since Republicans do not follow public opinion polls, we should not expect even one of them to vote for impeachment or removal. They believe they still have the power to win the presidency and keep the Senate. If that is the case, we can kiss democracy goodbye. So votes for Democrats in 2020 need to be far in excess than for Republicans so they cannot steal the election.

[ananda]

9. Agree

Dems need to gotv en masse!

[PatrickforO]

10. I bookmarked this thread just for your post here.

Thanks for putting it up.

[aggiesal]

11. The drivers are wealth and power, ...

They're not called the Greedy One Percent (GOP) for nothing.

[MatthewG.]

12. Well said.

Today’s Republicans very largely believe that they can bypass Democracy and remain a majority Party. Given their record of aggressive gerrymandering, voter exclusion, and winning the White House with popular minorities, they may be right.

There’s no reason for any remaining Republican I can see to turn against Trump no matter what the evidence.

Eventually ... whether in five years or fifteen ... the GOP will be so far out of ongoing demographic shifts they may have to adjust their planks, and general refusal to adhere to basic consensual reality, to remain competitive - but that day has not quite arrived.

[Wounded Bear]

15. Ruling party, not majority party...

Majorities are so last century.

[MatthewG.]

16. Good Point.

[MFGsunny]

14. Great summary.