What Democrats can learn from the Mueller hearings debacle: Only way to boot Trump is beat him in 2020 – Washington Examiner

The long-awaited testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller did one main thing: confirm that the Democratic Party’s impeachment dreams are over. Now, it’s more apparent than ever that the Left’s only hope to remove President Trump from office will be through a 2020 election victory of their own.

Each member of the voting public has known who Trump is all along. His most ardent supporters will never be swayed to abandon him due to real or imaginary concerns, of which there are plenty. His greatest detractors are just as passionate in their beliefs that the 45th president is wholly unworthy of the high office. Yes, the GOP must eventually address the elasticity of their principles in this era. But while Republicans have issues of their own, Democrats continue to show how blinded they are by their incessant calls for impeachment.

Demanding removal of Trump began almost immediately. Some who entered Congress following their own victories in the 2018 midterms, like Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, have made impeachment a central goal from the start. However, wanting something done and having the ability and mechanism to see it through to completion are entirely different things.

Given that the public’s desire to see impeachment proceedings commence isn’t very high, it makes little sense for the Democrats to expend energy heading that direction especially while they’re in the midst of another presidential election cycle. Even though almost 100 Democrats in the House are eager for progress to be made on this front, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is holding firm against moving the same direction.

With more than 20 candidates in the race for president, the party as a whole seems to agree that beating Trump on the ballot is their most realistic chance at actually removing him from office. Even though the general election matchups between their higher-polling candidates and the incumbent allows for little to no confidence, this avenue remains their best bet. Launching impeachment proceedings would certainly feel great, but with a DOA outcome in the Senate, the attempt would accomplish nothing more than angering the MAGA base even further. And that, on the eve of an election, would be impossible to overcome.

Democrats have yet to realize that any current demands for impeachment only solidify Trump’s 2020 prospects. These calls to impeach are propelled by a less than definitive report and lackluster testimony. With no bombshells in their arsenal, their desperation serves more like a re-election advertisement for Trump than anything else.

If a slam dunk case for impeachment existed, this would cause the average American voter to pay a modicum of attention to the messy, daily drama in Washington. But even many politicos who dislike and distrust the president know that no such case exists. The men and women who will head to the polls on Nov. 3, 2020, are more concerned with how decisions in Washington affect their bottom line, job prospects, children’s future and education, and sense of security. The substance of their collective concern is not whether impeachment is seriously considered by politicians who have been looking for a smoking gun all along. Legislators should be focused on the people’s business and not on exhausting, partisan maneuvering. The latter will quickly turn a regular member of the electorate away come decision day.

This week destroyed the Democratic Party’s short-term goal for dealing with the “Trump problem.” It remains to be seen whether or not they understand just how nearsighted their focus has been in the first place.

Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.