Trump acquittal confronts Dems with election-year choices

Donald Trump’s impeachment ended with a reminder of why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi resisted idea for so long — an acquittal everyone saw coming, followed by a bombastic presidential victory lap and a bump in his poll numbers just as 2020 campaign officially began.

w Democrats have to decide how to navigate legislative and political landscape that y’ve helped reshape.

Pelosi’s nationally televised ripping of her copy of Trump’s State of Union dress Tuesday night underscored acrid atmosphere that will make partisan cooperation on any issue difficult. Major legislative compromises were always going to be hard this election year, but impeachment fight only deepened partisan bitterness and me progress less likely.

“Because we have to,” . 2 House Democratic leer Steny Hoyer of Maryland said when asked how Congress and Trump could cooperate on health care and or issues. He ded, “I’d be foolish to be optimistic because we have t done that so far.”

Democrats must also decide how vigorously to continue investigations, including into impeachment’s focus: Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine’s leers to bolster his reelection by seeking dirt on rival Joe Biden. GOP-controlled Senate acquitted Trump on Wednesday of both articles of impeachment, with Utah Sen. Mitt Romney sole lawmaker defying party lines.

Former White House national security viser John Bolton could still have damaging information about Trump and has expressed a willingness to testify if subpoenaed. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nler, D-N.Y., told reporters Wednesday that House panels would likely summon Bolton and pursue or Trump probes as well.

“When you have a lawless president, you have to bring that to fore, you have to spotlight that,” Nler said.

Even as y consider path ahe, neir Pelosi r Democrats controlling House are second-guessing ir decision to impeach Trump.

Pelosi stood as a bulwark against impeachment for months as pro-impeachment sentiment rose steily in her caucus, but when Trump’s dealings with Ukraine came to light in September, floodgates were forced open.

“Once Ukraine happened, we h choice but to proceed,” said Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt.

“And h we t (acted),” Welch ded, “re would have been a huge price to pay politically.”

While that’s a popular view with Democrats’ dominant liberal wing, many think an overemphasis on Trump investigations risks feeding Republican narrative that overreaching Democrats are obsessed with pursuing him. y also worry about detracting from Democrats’ focus on pocketbook issues that helped m capture House control in 2018 elections.

“I’m hoping that’s a side show, and big show is let’s work for American people” on issues like health care and infrastructure,” said Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., co-chairman of Blue Dog Coalition, which represents around 25 moderate House Democrats.

Assessing impeachment’s political impact ahe of vember’s elections is at least as fraught.

Democrats say say despite Trump’s acquittal, trial trained prolonged attention on his sordid behavior and lashed GOP senators to him with ir votes absolving him. y say that will weaken ir reelection bids of GOP senators in swing states like Coloro, Maine and Arizona.

“This reinforced view that Trump is unethical and lacking in integrity,” said Democratic pollster Geoffrey Garin. “And it’s exposed a number of Republican senators as hacks beholden to president and Mitch McConnell,” Senate majority leer from Kentucky whom Democrats love to target.

Republicans counter that effort has electrified GOP voters just months before Election Day, citing a Gallup Poll showing Trump with a 49% job approval rating, highest of his presidency. y say Pelosi me tactical errors that exposed Democrats’ impeachment drive as a blatantly political exercise, in process weakening more than two dozen House Democrats from Trump-won districts.

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“ President has his highest approval rating since he’s been in office,” said Majority Leer Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “I can tell you as a poll watcher who’s looking at polls in certain Senate races every one of our people in tough races, every one of m, is in better shape today than y were before impeachment trial started.”

Republicans were especially critical of House Democrats’ decision to t fight more in courts to obtain testimony and documents. Democrats said y dropped such efforts because Trump could have forced legal battles lasting months, effectively derailing impeachment effort. Republicans said that decision me it easy to portray Democrats as caring less about a serious investigation than politics.

“You didn’t even bor to pull all levers,” said Scott Jennings, a longtime political viser to McConnell.

Many Democrats say re would have been way to prevent Republicans from complaining that investigation was political and lacked sufficient evidence.

“y’d have said that if you’d produced volumes more evidence,” said John Lawrence, Pelosi’s chief of staff for eight years ending in 2013.

And while Democrats collected compelling evidence against Trump, y me mistake of thinking y’d win by appealing broly to voters, said Brendan Buck, a GOP consultant who’s vised congressional leers. Republicans prevailed by aiming ir arguments at GOP’s core conservative supporters, a tactic that has driven Trump’s presidency.

“Democrats seemed to play by old rules and president played by new rules,” Buck said.

One moderate House Democrat said Democrats facing difficult reelection fights from Trump-leaning districts think Pelosi me tactical decisions that could jeopardize m.

That includes her one-month delay in formally sending House’s impeachment articles to Senate. That fed GOP argument that effort was political, said Democrat, who spoke on condition of anymity to describe private conversations.

This Democrat said lawmakers also recoiled at Pelosi’s decision to sign impeachment articles and distribute pens as mementos to colleagues. Democrat said voters in ir districts often cited that televised ceremony as evidence that impeachment was politically motivated.

“y ran as, ‘I’m t just a regular Democrat, I’ll reach across party lines,’” said former Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., who once ran House GOP’s campaign organization. “And here y are impeaching president like this.”

One thing many from both parties agree on: By vember, impeachment could well be superseded by or issues and will likely be conflated into an overall referendum on Trump.

“My honest guess is that public will very rapidly turn to kitchen table issues,” said former Rep. David Obey, D-Wis.

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