Good Article on what Nancy Pelosi is working on.... [View all]

[chowder66]

snip

Pelosi’s sensitivity to public sentiment requires her to keep tabs on three fronts.

The first is the Democratic caucus. She constantly monitors and measures the mood of her colleagues. She rotates through her office the House Democratic leadership, a wider leadership group called the Steering and Policy Committee, the chairs of various legislative committees, and the leaders and members of dozens of disparate caucuses (the Congressional Black Caucus and the conservative Blue Dogs, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the moderate New Democratic Caucus). Then she goes to ground, conferring with members one-on-one. Not everyone knows what everyone else is thinking. She and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer do. It’s how they shape consensus.

snip

But “this moment in time” does not mean “all moments in time.” Pelosi, remember, believes it’s possible to shape public sentiment. That’s why she’s unleashed her committee chairs to fully exercise their oversight responsibilities by investigating every facet of potentially impeachable offenses: Jerry Nadler of the Judiciary Committee, Adam Schiff on Intel, Maxine Waters on Financial Services, Elijah Cummings on Oversight and Reform. They may find a smoking gun—incontrovertible evidence that crystallizes public support for impeachment and maximizes pressure on House Republican incumbents in moderate districts. Then Pelosi will have achieved her goal: a broader public consensus for impeachment and stronger, if not necessarily overwhelming, bipartisan support.

Progressives worry that if Democrats avoid impeachment with this president, they will set a bad precedent. Just how bad must things get? Fair enough. But for Democrats there’s a worse outcome: a premature impeachment that acquits and helps result in the reelection of Trump with a loyal Republican majority in Congress, an expanded Republican majority in state legislatures, and a permanently hyper-conservative judiciary.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/nancy-pelosi-public-opinion-and-timing-matter/591385/