Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
CNN opinion: "Democrats are facing a huge problem"
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/04/opinions/democrats-are-about-to-get-hammered-by-gop-zelizer/index.html. . .When they began their investigations, they still seemed to have assumed that the administration would play by some kind of rules. They hoped that the hearing stage of these investigations would help educate the public and Congress about what has happened and create a more solid basis for determining whether impeachment proceedings should or should not begin. But instead, Democrats are getting nothing other than more obstruction, and the clock keeps ticking.
Fearing that the impeachment process will trigger a backlash akin to what Republicans faced in the late 1990s, Democrats are getting caught up in an investigative quagmire that is likely to result in cumbersome legal battles with the administration, uncooperative witnesses, meager information and ongoing news coverage about the clash between the branches rather than the actual substance of the evidence in the Mueller report.
At this rate, Democrats could realize their worst fears. They could wind up allowing these multiple investigations to keep dragging out without producing the kind of information that moves public opinion. Given that this is not an impeachment proceeding, Republicans will be able to find some political space to start claiming that Democrats are engaged in endless investigations that don't lead to an up or down vote.
At the same time, the media coverage of the battles over the investigation will overshadow discussions of policy issues favorable to the Democrats and Republicans will berate their opponents for only investigating rather than caring at all about good governance.
But the political risks are even worse than this. Senate Republicans are ready to begin two years of their own investigations. While Democrats are perpetually outraged, Republicans are perpetually partisan. As some senators such as Lindsay Graham warned during the Barr hearings, they will open up their own hearings into whether the Obama administration allowed for illegal "spying" into the 2016 Trump campaign.
They will ramp up discussions, which Barr seems to support, of "deep state" conspiracies and corrupt federal agents. And this is just the start. It is easy to imagine that White House officials are gearing up to launch other investigations as well.
Fearing that the impeachment process will trigger a backlash akin to what Republicans faced in the late 1990s, Democrats are getting caught up in an investigative quagmire that is likely to result in cumbersome legal battles with the administration, uncooperative witnesses, meager information and ongoing news coverage about the clash between the branches rather than the actual substance of the evidence in the Mueller report.
At this rate, Democrats could realize their worst fears. They could wind up allowing these multiple investigations to keep dragging out without producing the kind of information that moves public opinion. Given that this is not an impeachment proceeding, Republicans will be able to find some political space to start claiming that Democrats are engaged in endless investigations that don't lead to an up or down vote.
At the same time, the media coverage of the battles over the investigation will overshadow discussions of policy issues favorable to the Democrats and Republicans will berate their opponents for only investigating rather than caring at all about good governance.
But the political risks are even worse than this. Senate Republicans are ready to begin two years of their own investigations. While Democrats are perpetually outraged, Republicans are perpetually partisan. As some senators such as Lindsay Graham warned during the Barr hearings, they will open up their own hearings into whether the Obama administration allowed for illegal "spying" into the 2016 Trump campaign.
They will ramp up discussions, which Barr seems to support, of "deep state" conspiracies and corrupt federal agents. And this is just the start. It is easy to imagine that White House officials are gearing up to launch other investigations as well.
22 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!
and any real or perceived dirty laundry....
ONLY!!! 2019 and beyond.
