Republicans Show No Signs of Getting It
As predicted, the vast majority of House Republicans did not vote for impeachment - when it should've been easy to do so. Biden should just focus on governing.
Publisher’s Riff
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Wednesday’s impeachment vote in the House of Representatives came down to a vote that was a little less along-partisan-lines than the impeachment vote from last year …
And much less partisan than the vote on invoking the 25th Amendment the day before …
The reason for this intense partisanship after a very obvious coup attempt by the president is rooted in the deep fear Republican politicians have of the dreaded “base.” It is that “base” - still mostly supportive of Trump and also believes in the steady diet of disinformation - which poses persistent electoral threats to those same politicians in what’s becoming a rather problematic primary system. Primaries are not only faced with turnout issues, but also the more extreme elements of the Republican Party. There is also the problem of personal security: Republican lawmakers are now claiming they are fearing for the safety of themselves and their families ….
That’s not something to take lightly. Duly elected Members of Congress are claiming that they’re being bullied into submission (not saying anything about an entire presidency of white supremacy and extremism they themselves colluded with), so perhaps that explains some of it. How severe is the direct political threat? Do they really need to worry about primary challenges or a revenge push from Donald Trump in his post-presidency life?
Basically: is that good enough of an excuse not to course correct? How much political juice does Trump really have?
It should be noted that Trump is the first president to lose a reelection bid since President George H.W. Bush lost to Bill Clinton in 1992. He also lost by a more than 7 million vote margin; closer inspection shows just 22 percent of the entire U.S. population voted for him.
But, even in the wake of a direct attack on the U.S. Congress engineered by the current occupant of the White House, Republicans are not budging from their current political course. A recent Axios/Ipsos poll still shows steady Republican support for Trump …
While 58 percent of Republicans disagree that he should run in 2024, 41 percent believe that he should. That’s still rather large. And even when there’s overwhelming evidence that it was Trump supporters attacking the U.S. Capitol last week, most Republicans don’t seem to think so, going so far as to think it was someone else, according to recent YouGov data …
At this stage, an incoming President Biden should worry less about trying to reconcile with Republicans and Democrats should also stop working so hard on converting Trump voters. It seems like a lost cause. Biden’s best strategy is to, simply, govern well. Steady, good governance bolstered by robust economic stimulus - such as what he proposed this week - is what’s needed. Govern well, and perhaps everything else falls in place.