1976 election is probably influencing Democrats inaction on impeachment and ending the war

[yurbud]

There is a lot of talk about fear of a backlash against impeachment as happened during & after Clinton impeachment, but I don't think pols are so stupid that they don't see the difference.

Instead, I think they have slightly longer memories than the rest of us.

Nixon resigned under threat of impeachment in 1974, and his vice president had ALSO been forced to resign due to corruption.

The Fall of Saigon ended the Vietnam War in April 1975, after Nixon had been elected in '68 with the promise of a secret plan to end the war.

And yet, for all that, Jerry Ford got within spitting distance of holding onto the White House, and probably would have if not for his pardon of Nixon and odd Iron Curtain gaffe during the debates.

The moral of 1976 was that the public has a very, very short memory when it comes to the actions of political parties.

By 1980, all of that was as obscure to most people as the Gadsden Purchase.

On the other hand, the Democrats still controlled Congress throughout the 70s.

If the war was ended, and Bush & Cheney were impeached, the election would be a referendum on the future not the past, and the GOP could shake their Muslim, Gay, Latino, and black boogie men in the faces of uneducated whites and heard them to the poll to vote for them again.

I do not agree that this is a good reason to hold off on impeachment and ending the war, but I can see this going through the heads of those in DC. Most of them are older than me, so these events are probably even more prominent in their memories.

[AndyTiedye]

1. We Didn't Have the Mighty All-Repiglican Media in the 70s

If we had the MSM then that we had now, Nixon would have gotten away with everything.
There would have been no impeachment.

Our Congressional Democrats live in fear of the mighty Repiglican Media.

[yurbud]

2. ironically, I think they are largely discredited now as is the MSM. Dems are fighting the last war

Left has an edge on the internet because it isn't such a narrow funnel of info that it can be dominated to the exclusion of all others the way the right does with radio and TV.