Can anyone, in their most optimistic thinking, see how the Senate could convict Trump?

[Stinky The Clown]

Are there enough GOPers with a sense of duty to country to vote to convict, assuming there is real evidence of impeachable crimes?

[vsrazdem]

1. No, but if the stock market keeps tanking it might hit their pocket books

and they they might start blaming Trump. Sense of duty, no. Financial losses, yes.

[pnwmom]

2. It depends on how much of his work as a Russian mobster gets revealed. n/t

[UniteFightBack]

3. Once there is real evidence as you say.....yes it's very possible. Isn't that what it took with

Nixon? Those R's were behind him until the tapes came out.

[Saboburns]

4. This Senate no way. Never.

As long as there is a Republican party in America, chances are no Senate will ever convict a Republican for Impeachment.

But a jury of 12 peers will convict him no problem. Not of Impeachment though.

Obstruction, Fraud, Tax Evasion, Conspiracy, Treason.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

13. An honorable Senate

Would never have confirmed Kavanaugh. They don’t have the courage and they know that a yes vote to convict Trump would mean thy would be primaried

[yuiyoshida]

18. I don't care what anyone says, I want to see

them throw the book at him, and in a way that destroys him the most.

However, that said, with the current
Senate, they will not only NOT IMPEACH him, they will probably give him his own Presidential statue on the White House Lawn (Probably playing GOLF).

[Mister Ed]

5. They'll convict themselves, in the public's eye.

I think that that crimes revealed will be so serious, and so extensive, that failing to convict will make Republican senators essentially complicit in the crimes. Which is what they'll do, and what they'll be.

[Progressive Jones]

21. 2020 will be a disaster for the GOP if they fail to act, and rightly so. nt

[bobGandolf]

23. I'm hoping Mister Ed...

...that what you wrote will be exactly what transpires. That is THE ONLY chance of getting a Senate conviction.

[Hoyt]

6. Nope, unless it saves their rears. I bet Senate, like us, already suspects more than Mueller

can prove, yet they do nothing. The argument will be that House should impeach, assuming all Democrats vote to, and make Senate take a position.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

7. If there is COMPELLING evidence for Impeachment.....

Conviction in the Senate must follow.

To not convict despite compelling evidence will certainly result in the loss of the Senate for Republicans for many years to come after 2020.

For Republicans wil be labeled the party of Criminals and Traitors to the Constitution.

[grantcart]

8. There are 2 possibilities

1) Rupert Murdoch decides that Trump is killing his ratings and his overall portfolio and Fox magically starts building outrage against crimes of Trump and simultaneously offering puff pieces on Pence.

Examples:

"No one is above the law"
""No one is indefensible"
"White House aids report the President suffers health problems, not getting enough sleep, becoming incoherent."

2) Trump approval drops to 27%

Remember Nixon/Agnes had the greatest landslide in US History (49 states) in 72. Two years later hone.

[Mike Niendorff]

9. Not relevant at this point.

Force them to hold the trial anyway.

Do not give them the option of keeping any of this off the record.


MDN

[KPN]

19. THIS

[NanceGreggs]

10. Yes, I do think it's possible.

And optimism has nothing to do with it - nor does "enough GOPers with a sense of duty to country".

I believe that Mueller's findings re Trump are going to be so devastating, the Republicans will have no choice but to turn on him.

As for impeachment, I think the GOP convincing Spanky to resign is more likely. They can give him the choice of resigning, or having to go through the public humiliation of impeachment proceedings completely on his own, because the party won't support him.

[Awsi Dooger]

11. Zero

Even with damning video/audio I still make it zero.

Minus video it is comical to believe Republicans will turn against Donald Trump, no matter what Mueller turns up.

Day to day means nothing. Everyone who keeps insisting Trump is in jeopardy makes the mistake of paying attention to today's news, and then tomorrow's news.

Meanwhile, none of that means jippety spit. For anyone who is gullible enough to pay attention to daily developments, a jolt of reality would be to get to know one Republican who supports Donald Trump. Just one. Then ask them what they think about Russia, or the Mueller investigation, or anything that could surface. Do that and within 5 minutes you'll have real world clarity that Donald Trump is in no jeopardy at all.

Trump is a lifelong cheater and crook who will go down in history as one of the worst Americans of all time. But that doesn't sharpen until 40 or 50 years from now. In real world 2018 he will serve his full term, be nominated for a second term, and be hellish to defeat in November 2020.

[Claritie Pixie]

12. Yes, if the public demands it.

That's the key. If you haven't noticed, Mueller is trying his case in the court of public opinion...drip...by drip...by drip...and Trump can't stop it. We are also witnessing him realizing that as his behavior becomes more bizarre.

There will be a point when even Lindsay Graham won't be able to defend him anymore. We have to put the pressure on all Rs once the dots are connected.

[Liberty Belle]

14. More likely they could pressure him to resign, or be convicted in impeachment.

I see some hope today after GOP Senators agree that the Saudi prince ordered the murder of the hacked-up journalist, accepting the CIA evidence even though the President refuses to believe it.

But also Mueller may have evidence implicating some high level GOP Senators in collusion or other crimes; a lot of them took huge sums from Russia. If they being to feel pressure for that, they might be wiling to dump Trump to save their own skins, especially if Pence manages to be unscathed.

There is actually an incentive for them to act sooner rather than later or not at all. If they take action before Dems takevoer the House, when they know impeachement will bring to light all kinds of crimes, they could quickly install Pence as president and he could appoint a vice president free of scandal, say someone like Mitt Romney. Then even if Pence is later indicted or impeached, the new appointed VP would become president, instead of their worst nightmare, a President Pelosi.

I haven't seen any talk about that possible strategy but it could be the GOP's only desperate hope of holding onto the presidency, if Trump and Pence are both guilty of being traitors or similar crimes against America.

[Grasswire2]

15. Bill Kristol, tonight..

...said following the statement of Lindsay Graham on Khashoggi that he believes in January we will see some peeling off of Republican senators. FWIW.

[Wounded Bear]

16. Well, in 2020 over 20 Repub Senators are up for re-ellection IIRC...

the trick would be to get some kind of leverage in their home states. I don't know who all is on the list, but all of them can't be in Trump do-or-die states, can they. The only thing they care about is leverage from their voters and supporters.

Dems are also fighting the reality that the Trump tax cuts are 'permanent' only as long as they can maintain enough votes to protect them.

[BannonsLiver]

17. I don't think it would ever get that far

IMO a deal would be cut among Republicans that would allow Trump resign. If the Trump regime is to be undone by Mueller’s findings and if Pence is exposed in any significant way, I expect the following to happen:

1-Pence will resign first.

2-Trump will install a new VP loyal to him.

3-When the new VP is in place Trump will resign with a full pardon guaranteed for himself and every member of his family.

4-The new president, whoever it is, would be in a caretaker role until 2020, when there would be a full blown GOP primary with a fairly large number of candidates. Old guard Establishment GOP figures would love this option because it would give them a clean shot a wresting control of the party from the Trump wing, which may be the only way the party survives.

Point 1 is crucial for the GOP because it prevents President Pelosi.

We’re in for a wild ride no matter what, it seems. 2019 will be a year that is talked about for a century or more. You can feel it in the air.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

20. I Thought The Republicans Up For Re-Election In 2018 Would Turn On Him.......

..........when they saw how he was dragging their poll numbers down. But very few did. I would like to think that even the most craven Republican apologist would look at the possibility of going down with the Trumptanic and flip on him, but he has some kind of hold on these spineless rats that makes them willing to even lose their jobs in order to prop him up. I honestly don't get it.

So even if a HANDFUL of them suddenly grew a conscience, it still wouldn't be nearly enough. I'm counting on Mueller and the court system to bring him down.

[DFW]

22. Not in anyone's dreams

You wouldn't find twenty Republican Senators who would convict Charles Manson, much less Trump for his illegalities.

[musicblind]

24. No. n/t

[pampango]

25. No but forcing them to acquit a corrupt traitor will show those who are not willfully blind

just who GOP senators really are.

[DFW]

29. That is just about the only upside

Well, plus the fact that there would then be the historical comparison between the impeachments of Trump and Clinton:

Clinton was impeached for lying about an affair and Trump was impeached for about thirty felony violations of a wide varieties of corruption laws.

If both got off, well, then, at least it becomes clear to the world what Republicans consider an offense and what they don't.

[LupusYonderboy00]

26. YES

I’ve said for a while now that the Senate may indeed impeach him. IF the evidence is strong; they could look STATESMAN-like by impeaching him and pretending to high road it. They’d be getting rid of him as the albatross around their necks. It would open up the primaries for fresh candidates that aren’t tainted. Peance could easily be controlled for two years then shown the door. The establishment Republicans would be back in charge, and they wouldn’t even have to worry about the hard core, mouth breathing Trump base. All they’d have to do is talk about guns, the confederate flag, and gay marriage and they’d have the mouth breathers right back in the flock.

[Soxfan58]

27. Yes!

But its not sence of duty. He is becoming a anchor on the GOP. They will save their own hides before tRumps.

[OnDoutside]

28. No, the target should be the GOP. You don't want Trump gone before the 2020 election, which

potentially promises to be the all time greatest result for the Democratic Party.

[DFW]

30. 2008 will be hard to beat

This time, they'll remember 2008 and are surely already working not only on damage control, but the electoral fraud that they know they'll need to save their sorry asses from annihilation at the polls. The next president will probably replace both Thomas and RBG on the Supreme Court (possibly Breyer, too).

If it's a Democrat, the balance tips in our favor (finally!). If not, the history of the USA will extend what has already become one very dark chapter.

[OnDoutside]

32. If things go as I expect over the next 2 years, I think it will not only result in a Democratic

President, but an increased majority in the House and retake the Senate. While yes the GOP will remember, but Democrats have 2016 and 2018 to remember I agree they clearly are working on damage control but I can't see Trump's numbers going up, with what is going to come out in the next 18 months. And that spells catastrophic trouble for the GOP, provided Democrats hammer their failure to hold Trump to account. I would also point to the calibre of new Democratic House members, who will provide a fresh diverse image.

[DFW]

36. I'm less sanguine about the next two years

The Republican insiders that matter know how much of a mess they have created, and the economic damage isn't as wide-spread or apparent as it was in 2008. Roberts and Alito were put on the Supreme Court years before Citizens United, which was only rolled out shortly before it was needed, and too late for the Democrats to pass countermeasures before they were voted out of a majority that could do so.

In the meantime, the Republicans are thanking their lucky stars that Obamacare wasn't repealed. Trump's numbers won't matter if they manage to distance themselves enough (or they manage to get rid of him in time).

The new House members will either be a part of a larger majority or they will be homewreckers, and in either case, with a hostile Senate, the House's primary role, beyond calling for and conducting investigations, will be legislative damage control. As Alan Grayson found out, as a freshman Congressman, you can fight a noble cause and you can get your face on TV, but you don't set an agenda all on your own as a freshman Congresscritter. In Congress, there's nothing at all wrong with speaking out, but you play along or you play alone.

A veteran Democratic strategist (I forget who) pointed out recently that some of the freshman class of Democrats now entering Congress will be one-term wonders because they will forget that they are part of a diverse TEAM with one goal in mind, but a hundred different opinions on how to achieve it. They got into Congress with a majority of the votes in their primaries and then their districts. They would do well to remember that Congress works no differently.

[OnDoutside]

37. I understand your caution, and they clearly are in rat survival mode. That said, Democrats have a

fantastic chance to expose not just Trump criminality, but Republican too. If I were them, I'd rush to agree with Dems to fix Obamacare, and neutralise it for 2020, otherwise they are going to continue owning it for the next 2 years. Agree a deal and claim victory. Even if they do though, they're going to have a drip drip of scandal in the media , especially if Trump runs again. Yes, there are a lot of inexperienced Dems in Congress, but they will have plenty of ammunition to work with. I don't think they can distance themselves from Trump (they are still scared of losing the Trumpers), and certainly the noises coming out from Republicans seems to confirm to me that they can't stray from Trump.

[wasupaloopa]

31. They don't want him to run in 2020. Get rid of him asap.

With a Democratic House the Senate is neutered. They don't need trump. The incoming judges do not need trumps nomination.

[mcar]

33. I don't see it

They are too focused on their own reelections.

[elocs]

34. This is DU where if you really, really want something to happen,

then in your mind it is a sure thing.
Now the Bible says: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" Hebrews 11: 1.
Given that definition of faith, many DUers have faith that would put most Christians to shame as well as raising Mueller to a godlike status.

The simple reality is that this Senate will never vote to convict Trump.
No, the days of the Senate and the House at the time of Nixon are gone forever and partisan politics are now where each side not only disagrees with whatever the other side believes but thinks they are evil as well.

[H2O Man]

35. Yes.