Martin Longman is the web editor of the Washington Monthly.
He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. Before joining the Monthly, Martin was a county coordinator for ACORN/Project Vote and a political consultant. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
I have seen reports that even if acquitted he can be barred from ever running for office in the future in by a separate vote requiring only a simple majority.
Cruz and Hawley would be best off if Trump were convicted but they voted against it. That’s what I imagine those opportunists will angle for. As for the Republican party, I don’t think there’s an obvious path forward. Either path could prove really damaging. You made the case for convicting Trump. The downside is Trump’s supporters may not get over it and may come to see the entire party as an apparatus of the “deep state”. We’ve had cycles in which too many on the left behaved as through both parties were essentially the same and it hurt us. Both… Read more »
The conviction in the Senate requires 2/3rds of all Members PRESENT. So Hawley and Cruz can launch a boycott of the “fake trial” and drag 15 other cretins and cynics out with him, reducing the number needed to get to 2/3 and saving their credibility with the Moron Labe crowd.
Also, if Trump is in jail, he can’t tweet, and we are discovering just how dependent his movement is on his twitter feed.
True enough but I still find it hard to believe they could find the votes to convict. OTOH you make a good case to convict and then vote him out forever. Trump has some magical grip on the party. It may be the party has to be rebuilt from the ground up. As it now looks it is a hodge podge of political perspectives that don’t fit. The dems are giving them a chance to move on. If they don’t take it, oh well.
If Republican senators are going to convict Trump and bar him from future office, the first few votes are easy to guess:
*Collins
*Murkowski
*Portman
*Romney
*Sasse
*Toomey
It’s hard to imagine getting to 68 votes (nobody want to be the pivotal vote) without *McConnell. But then who are the other 11?
I would bet against getting enough Republicans to impeach, but after the six you’ve mentioned, the Bernstein whiner list plus McConnell (obligatory).
I have seen reports that even if acquitted he can be barred from ever running for office in the future in by a separate vote requiring only a simple majority.
Cruz and Hawley would be best off if Trump were convicted but they voted against it. That’s what I imagine those opportunists will angle for. As for the Republican party, I don’t think there’s an obvious path forward. Either path could prove really damaging. You made the case for convicting Trump. The downside is Trump’s supporters may not get over it and may come to see the entire party as an apparatus of the “deep state”. We’ve had cycles in which too many on the left behaved as through both parties were essentially the same and it hurt us. Both… Read more »
The conviction in the Senate requires 2/3rds of all Members PRESENT. So Hawley and Cruz can launch a boycott of the “fake trial” and drag 15 other cretins and cynics out with him, reducing the number needed to get to 2/3 and saving their credibility with the Moron Labe crowd.
Also, if Trump is in jail, he can’t tweet, and we are discovering just how dependent his movement is on his twitter feed.
True enough but I still find it hard to believe they could find the votes to convict. OTOH you make a good case to convict and then vote him out forever. Trump has some magical grip on the party. It may be the party has to be rebuilt from the ground up. As it now looks it is a hodge podge of political perspectives that don’t fit. The dems are giving them a chance to move on. If they don’t take it, oh well.