On the evening of Dec. 18, President Donald Trump was officially impeached by the United States House of Representatives on two charges: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
It certainly felt like a very big deal. But while representatives and reporters were throwing the word “historic” and “history book” out left and right, Trump, at a Christmas-theme rally held at the same time as the vote, shouted to the crowd, “By the way, it doesn’t feel like we’re being impeached.”
And he was right. It really doesn’t. In a normal world, impeachment means that, in layman terms, a President is in very big trouble. But seeing how the Trump 2020 campaign raised over $5 million on the day of the impeachment, $125 million this quarter, and $300 million this year, the President seems to be doing fine.
Trump thrives in divisiveness. He appealed to the far right end of the political spectrum. And the impeachment, though a lawful process based on good evidence, isn’t doing anything to bridge that divide. The vote to impeach Trump was almost strictly along party lines. The vote to convict or acquit in the Republican-controlled Senate will probably be the same. Trump, vindicated, will stay put in the White House, and his supporters will stay put under their MAGA hats.
Because, despite the Democrats’ best efforts to look forlorn and solemn on impeachment day, the proceeding did feel more like a political calculation rather than a matter of national security. Everywhere you look, the headlines and sub-headlines will invariably have the words “Democrats,” “push,” “lead,” and “impeachment” in it. It doesn’t help that ever since Trump became President there have been many attempts to brand him a traitor and a criminal, and all of those previous attempts have so far resulted in inconclusive investigations. Most everything Trump has done was outrageous, but was not criminal — by creating this constant chaos, Trump has sheltered himself very affectively from the tumult of impeachment. Impeachment used to have this scary, shocking sense to it. Now it’s not even quite as interesting as the time he paid off Stormy Daniels, because while the payoff has sex in it, the Ukraine scandal has the weary accusatory tone of an over-played political move.
Impeachment, in short, loses its meaning in Trump time. It bears no accusation the Republicans can’t sweep aside like they’ve done before; it demands no more attention than the scandals Trump has faced and moved past before; and most importantly, as Trump isn’t likely to be removed by Senate, it holds no consequences and therefore no power like it did to Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton (whose name is now almost always associated with Monica Lewinsky).
If the most serious rebuke of the land doesn’t work on Trump and his supporters, nothing will. No protests, no arguments, no rationalization. Conservatives who aren’t in Trump’s core base aren’t likely to be swayed by the ever-vigorous Democrats. And with the media coverage of the Republican 2020 primaries virtually nonexistent, these conservatives might not end up with many choices besides Trump.
Perhaps the most “electable” candidate for 2020 will be a well-known centrist, someone who is (kind of) trusted and who can bring most of America back to the sane middle.
Someone, perhaps, like Joe Biden.
Unfortunately, because of the impeachment, many Americans are now wondering just what corrupt thing the Bidens did. The irony of it can rival a Shakespeare’s tragedy.
