Originally Posted by rporter314
I would agree but you have disregarded the context of why Senate Republicans will not vote for conviction. It's not that they can not see the impeachable offense ... it is they understand the political repercussions if they say anything about it. Those are two different animals. And that was the point in my post.

The polls could show 90% of Americans would vote for conviction but that does not mean Senate Republicans would convict. They would still have to face .... {{{{{THE BASE}}}}}.

Self preservation, they would if their jobs depended on it. But I disagree with your premise that they see that Trump has committed impeachable offensives. Almost all senators are party animals for sure. The vote in the senate will be pretty much along party lines. Foregone conclusion. But most GOP senators don't see where Trump has committed an impeachable offense. At least not in what I've read, heard or listened to. They view impeachment as a partisan political vendetta trying to over turn a legal election.

This, the Democratic side can't understand, the Republican side can't understand why the Democrats are going after Trump. This isn't set in legal terms, but as a political process which impeachment is. Perhaps Trump could be convicted in a court of law, maybe not. But impeachment is played out in the political arena, not the legal arena.

In the political arena, both parties are close to equal strength. The Democrats have an advantage of 31-28% over the GOP if Gallup is to be believed. That means both parties must woo independents. On impeachment, independents are split right down the middle, roughly 45-45 with the remaining 10% not giving a darn one way or the other.

There are hard, set, feelings about this on both sides. Feelings set in concrete. That isn't about to change.

It's high past time that we start electing Americans to congress and the presidency who put America first instead of their political party. For way too long we have been electing Republicans and Democrats who happen to be Americans instead of Americans who happen to be Republicans and Democrats.