“ The impeachment remedy is not dead. It remains extraordinarily powerful—just in ways different from those imagined by the authors of the Constitution.”
“ There have been four presidential-impeachment processes since 1787. None has resulted in removal, but all four had seismic political consequences.
Andrew Johnson was not removed in 1868, but he was not renominated, either, and failed to gain the second term he so wanted.
Richard Nixon was not removed in 1974; he resigned amid an immense scandal.
Bill Clinton was not removed in 1998. Instead, Clinton’s became the first administration since Reconstruction to gain congressional seats in the sixth year of its term. His chief opponent, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, resigned instead, as did Gingrich’s presumptive successor, Bob Livingston, who confessed to an extramarital affair of his own.*
Donald Trump was not removed in 2020, but he lost the presidency, and his party lost control of the Senate.”
^ only one of those backfired as we all know. Here’s what happens when they try to do it for lying about BJs:
“Impeachment compels senators to take a public stand one way or the other: convict or acquit.
Because impeachment is such an extraordinary act, it is also profoundly risky to its proponents. If done wrong, it will redound upon the impeachers, as Clinton’s impeachment redounded upon Gingrich and the House Republicans.
In 1998, a substantial majority of the American people rejected the Republican impeachment case against Clinton. After the House approved articles of impeachment, Clinton’s approval jumped to a new high of 73 percent in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, and approval of Republicans tumbled to 31 percent.“
“ The Trump impeachment, by contrast, was supported by a consistent if narrow majority. Seventy percent of Americans condemned Trump’s attempted extortion of Ukraine’s government to aid his reelection. Trump and his supporters hoped and trusted that impeachment would backfire in 2020 as it had in 1998. Pro-Trump pundits confidently predicted that it would backfire. Those pro-Trump hopes were disappointed. The process began and ended with most Americans accepting that Trump had committed impeachable offenses and that he deserved to be removed from office for those offenses.”
^basically, the GOP lost for continuing to back their horse. Had they not been forced through the first impeachment to publicly display their above the country loyalty to trump, Dems may not have performed as well in 2020.
“ Yes, Trump can probably still expect a second acquittal in 2021. But Trump has three main post-presidential goals, and the forthcoming trial will do severe and possibly lethal damage to all three.
Trump’s maximal post-presidential goal is to position himself for a comeback run in 2024.
Failing that, Trump would like to demonstrate that—president or not—he remains the dominant force within the Republican Party, a leader surpassing all others.
Failing even that, Trump would at a minimum like to prove that he remains a potent-enough figure to frighten away federal and state prosecutors from investigating his businesses for tax or bank fraud.
The second impeachment in the House has already complicated these goals. The second trial in the Senate will complicate these goals further.”
There is another angle here. Many Rs will come out of this trump experience feeling trolled by Dems instead of learning their lesson. That will trap them into another Clinton style impeachment and they will once again get their a$$es kicked.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/02/impeachment-is-working-just-not-as-the-framers-expected/617954/