And at the same time, these Democrats can demonstrate that they have the courage of their democratic convictions, and that they are united behind these convictions. Such conduct will not impress Trump's hard-core supporters but nothing will. Yet it can impress all of those citizens who are not died-in-the-wool Trumpists. And it can inspire and even expand the Democratic base. And perhaps through such action, Democratic politicians can even inspire themselves, and come to realize that democracy is about more than simple political calculation and electoral opportunism.
Does such a political strategy have risks? Yes. Can it fail? Of course. All political strategies have risks, and none are assured of success. But business as usual also has risks. The Trump presidency is not a "normal" presidency, Trump is not a normal president, and the 2020 election will not be a normal election. Impeachment will not remove Trump from office. Only the election can do that. But impeachment can be a shot across the bow, a serious enactment of constitutionalism, and a very public "reality show" featuring a real contest between a dangerous President and his craven Republican supporters on the one hand, and a politically compelling Democratic Party on the other.
Can the Democratic Party truly be a compelling party that is true to its name?
We shall see.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
