In a piece just published Have the Democrats Been Doing Impeachment Right? I make a case for the possibility that the reason the impeachment process isn’t moving public opinion toward impeachment is that the Democrats made some wrong choices on how to do it.
One of those wrong choices, if my view is correct, was to focus the Articles of Impeachment too narrowly: just the two articles dealing with Ukraine-gate, leaving out others that could show a pattern of behavior. that, in turn shows clearly what Trump’s corrupt “intent” was.
And that connects with what I think is a central truth about moving public opinion regarding Trump’s impeachment and removal: i.e. that the job is not to show the American people WHAT TRUMP DID, but rather WHO TRUMP IS.
That’s accomplished by showing a pattern of behavior which demonstrates what Trump’s “intent” has been. Ukraine-gate is part of a pattern that shows Trump to be exactly the kind of person who cannot be allowed to continue to wield the power of the Presidency.
So the Democrats should have found ways of bringing in the Obstruction of Justice (from Mueller) to reinforce what Trump showed about himself in his Obstructions of Congress. And bringing in emoluments to show that Trump cares only about himself, and doesn’t care about hurting the country he’s supposed to be serving.
It would be good to have done some of this through the hearings — I believe — but in any event, the game isn’t over yet. Two stages remain — two more forums through which the Democrats might yet move public opinion into supporting the side of the Constitution against the side of lawlessness and the assault on our constitutional order.
There is persuading the House of Representatives to pass the Articles of Impeachment, which can involve making a powerful statement directed at moving the American people. And then there would presumably be the Senate trial, which may or may not provide a decent forum for making a powerful speech.And on television the other evening, I saw that there’s a Democrat who might well be able to use those forums to have a serious impact on the American people.
It was on Rachel Maddow’s show, and in the midst of her playing footage that showed how exhausting and repetitive the Republicans managed to make the hearings on the whole, she declared that there also some meaningful moments.
And the one such “moment” she showed was Representative Jamie Raskin making a most powerful, eloquent, clear statement exposing the guilt of Trump and the bad faith of the Republicans in the nonsense of the Republicans’ defenses of the President.
It went on for maybe three or four minutes, but it was a “Wow!”
This is a resource the Democrats should use for maximal impact.
NOTE: That spectacular that little speech of Raskin’s didn’t come out of nowhere. Rep. Raskin has been a frequent presence on TV talk shows, and he almost always hits the ball out of the park. A former professor of Constitutional law (at American University), Raskin combines clear legal argumentation with an eloquent prophetic voice— i.e. with passion about what’s right and wrong.
I propose that, wherever possible, the Democrats give Raskin the floor to deliver a solo.
The solo would be a clear-minded and impassioned speech to reveal who Trump reveals himself to be through his patterns of impeachable conduct. It would use what Trump did to show who Trump is.
(And in that speech also to show how Trump is the very kind of person our founders wanted us to be able to protect ourselves from, for which they gave us the tool of impeachment. It is not only a DUTY, but it is also in the interests of all Americans that Congress fulfill its oath.)
Exposing the ugly character behind the corrupt motivations will turn the American people to support impeachment — so I believe — in a way that the sheer breaking of laws, rules, and norms doesn’t accomplish.