Just because impeachment proceedings backfired on Republicans doesn't mean that it will

[karynnj]

23. I would even question the premise -- that it backfired on the Republicans

In fact, the Republicans impeached Clinton in the Senate in late 1998 during the lame duck session. Looking at the 1998 elections when impeachment was clearly on the table, the Senate was a wash, and trhe Democrats gained 5 seats in the House, with the Republicans having more votes cast for them. We had a net gain of one Governorship. 1998 was almost as stable a year as you will find.

The first election AFTER impeachment was 2000. Remember that GWB, well known as a mean drunk until he was 40 years old, ran on bringing "honor and decency" back to the White House. Al Gore was a former eagle scout, married to his high school sweetheart with a wonderful family. He was given more responsibility than most VPs and was considered to have done a great job. This should not even have been close!

As to the House, the Democrats gained 2 seats, with Republicans narrowly retaining the House. In the Senate, the Democrats gained 4 seats -- however this was a Senate class where the Republicans had gained 8 seats in 1994, the last time they ran. So, we DID have modest gains in Congress, but in BOTH houses we were still in far worse shape than we were before the 1994 election.

Imagine there were no impeachment. Gore, strongly supported by Clinton, emphasizing the state of the world - that might have been better if Congress/administration would not have been absorbed by the impeachment. Not to mention, no way could Bush have gained traction on "honor and decency".