Shakespeare Anagram: Julius Caesar
Now that impeachment of President Trump seems somewhat likely, some are also calling for the concurrent impeachment of Vice President Mike Pence.
Whoa, cowboy.
That’s a nice little fantasy you’ve cooked up there. I have no opinion about whether or not Pence deserves to be impeached; I’m certainly no fan, but I haven’t seen enough evidence to convince me that he should be.
But even if you disagree, there are strong arguments against bringing Pence into this. If this were a purely legal process, public opinion wouldn’t matter. But impeachment is a political process, and there needs to be a way forward after it’s over. According to a recent Fox News poll, 51 percent of American voters think that Trump should be impeached and removed from office. As the process continues, that number should continue going up. But if the Democrats are seen as making a power grab, it could go down. As long as the process ends with the Republicans retaining the Oval Office, nobody can credibly accuse them of that.
Once the House votes to impeach the president, it will be up to the Republican-controlled Senate to remove him from office, a very unlikely outcome. Until recently, I’d have said impossible, but the conservative backlash against his betrayal in Syria has been vehement. And as this president seems incapable of learning, it’s not hard to imagine him committing similar offenses in the near future. How many more of them will it take for his colleagues in the Senate to start wondering if they might not be better off dealing with a Pence administration, especially if public support for impeachment continues to grow. But there is no scenario whatsoever that would lead the Republicans in the Senate to approve a course of action that would lead to President Nancy Pelosi. None. Don’t even want it.
The main thing the Democrats have to avoid at this point is the appearance of overreach. Speaker Pelosi is well aware of this. Impeaching and removing a president is extreme enough, and it would be a phenomenal win if accomplished. But it would be a win for the American people and the principles of democracy, not the political agenda of a particular party. That’s how impeachment should be. There is a price for this kind of win, though, and that price is President Mike Pence.
I say it’s worth it.
From Julius Caesar:
Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius,
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs,
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards;
Shift around the letters, and it becomes:
Many wish to handcuff the churl Donald for treason, take out the Vice Crook as well.
Eh, it’s a bad idea. House wins must stay credible.