He’ll be just another Senator. Roberts would preside.
Does Trump understand that if he takes Pence down with him, Pelosi (that nasty woman) becomes President? I’m guessing no, he doesn’t.
And on the flip side, you’ll have ads like “Democrats wasted $X and Y months on a political witch-hunt. In the end, President Trump was found innocent. Let’s “Keep America Great” and re-elect President Trump.”
Might I suggest a few Twitter feeds to keep an eye on.
All of these folks tend to tweet longish threads with citations.
It’s the internet, none of them claim to be involved with decisions.
But I still think there is value in keeping an eye on their feeds.
https://twitter.com/TheViewFromLL2
https://twitter.com/blakesmustache
https://twitter.com/Teri_Kanefield
Warning: The consensus among these lawyerly types is that Pelosi is doing good work so those who complain how she sucks will have to get past that. Or be like Trumpeteers and not. Either way, I think there’s some gold in these feeds.
At the end of the day, if Trump is not convicted, absolutely nothing will change. The sides are entrenched. By no means would it guarantee a Republican victory in 2020. Today’s numbers are too close to call, and will remain too close to call long after any acquittal in the Senate
If he is convicted (or resigns), there is no way that Pence will command nearly the same unshakeable faith that the faithful bestow on Trump. The Dems win in 2020.
If he is convicted and Pence gets taken down with him (for his own malfeasance), many of the Trump faithful and most of the Pence faithful will lose interest. The Republican nominee will lose mightily to the Democrats in 2020.
I don’t think today’s Democrats have anything to fear or lose from the impeachment proceedings.
Ditka: Are you seriously asserting that Trump was just doing his presidential duty to combat corruption in a single small country, when he has shown no concern about corruption in Russia, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Brazil, the Philippines, and on and on? It’s just a complete coincidence that the people he wanted investigated were his top political rival and his son? :dubious:
Hold on…re: Pence…you don’t think there are a ton of voters who are sick of the way the Dems have comported themselves the last three years? And Pence is an easy way to say “At least i didn’t vote for Trump”
Not saying you’re wrong.
I really don’t think this group is all that big. Trump doesn’t have much going for him, but he’s a phenomenal cult leader. Pence would lose a popularity contest to a bowl of pureed cauliflower. If Trump is impeached, his cult followers are going to lose their fucking minds, and it’s not gonna turn a bunch of moderates into fans of the Republican party.
Just hours ago, I demonstrated in the polling thread that this idea about Trump is a myth: https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21880361&postcount=41
I love how the left loses an election based solely on bad policy, unlikable candidates, and hardcore leftism, learns nothing from that, quadruples their leftward slide, and goes on to openly attack a sitting president and his voters by-proxy and expects to win the next election - all the while screaming about how “divisive” this president is.
Really is a sight to behold. They had it by the balls with Obama in term one and have steadily declined ever since - all the while learning nothing.
I love this meme.
“hardcore leftism”
This goes right along with Trump’s unhinged comments today.
ARRGHHHH! SOCIALISM!
Trumpists would not know “hardcore leftism” if it bit them on the left nut.
Trumpists do not know what “socialism” means other than “Stuff I don’t like”
That’s one way to look at it.
Nice love letter to a President who has never cracked a positive approval rating.
Remember how ISIS happened because Obama refused to say the words “radical Islamic terrorism”?
Same deal. Unless you utter the proper incantation, it doesn’t count.
When the president of a small country speaks with the president of a powerful one in a position to do him big favors, the president of the small country has no obligation to figuratively prostrate himself before the other and wallow in submissive fealty, which is effectively what Zelensky did. Both sides do have an obligation to adhere to normal diplomatic standards of discourse and, if they happen to see fit, to engage in friendly chit-chat. No one needs to lose their basic human dignity.
I think the more likely explanation for this embarrassing behavior is that Zelensky was coached to treat Trump like a petulant two-year-old, which is what he did. Beyond that, in the relations between a small country and a powerful one that can offer it significant assistance, the obligation of the leader of the small country is to secure that assistance through some sort of … I’m trying to think of the Latin phrase for the kind of necessary collaboration, the give-and-take … oh, yes, I believe it’s quid pro quo. 
Or a popular vote.
This is a good post. Accepted For Value.
Not only that, but as you’ll see if you click the link I posted just upthread, he is consistently disliked personally by the vast majority of the public, which has never before been even close to true for any president in modern history.
I’m laughing at the leading headline at Breitbart:
**Democrats Privately Panic Following Impeachment Fallout
Many congressional Democrats publicly declared it the “smoking gun,” while Republicans dismissed their cries by noting the absence of quid pro quo or generally lawless behavior.**
I know where a couple in this thread get their news.
But he has the BEST clothes, the most FANTASTIC clothes. Everybody says so.
It seems to me that even if Trump gets impeached but not convicted, impeachment proceedings could still be useful for the 2020 election. A few times during the Trump saga, people have been convicted and turned state’s witness not because of something they did for Trump but because, while being questioned about it, they obstructed justice, lied during the course of an investigation or under oath. Once there was evidence they did that, prosecutors gained enough leverage on them to make take a plea and disclose information about illegal/embarrassing activities or the people above them in the pyramid, like Trump. If you can bait Trump’s associates into continuing to be crooked scum in a way that’s obstruction of justice/lying during an investigation or under oath, you could get more of Trump’s minions to squeal and reveal information that will motivate people to vote Democrat and lower the motivation of Republicans to show up to vote in 2020. Having the Senate fail to convict even when the evidence against Trump is overwhelming could also make people focus their displeasure at Senate Republicans, like Mitch McConnell. I hope that’s what Pelosi is thinking.