With impeachment openly being discussed by members of both parties on the hill this week, electoral preparations are already being made by the Democrat Party.
In hopes that the DOJ’s newly appointed special prosecutor might find something worthy of removal, the DNC has begun to prepare polling data from voters to determine whether a hard push for impeachment of President Trump will help their chances in 2018.
Recall that the GOP’s push to impeach President Clinton had a negative impact in the 1998 mid-term elections.
Democrats are hoping to avoid that fallout, should impeachment go from mere possibility to probability.
Here’s more from McClatchy…
Democratic strategists are racing to figure out whether it’s politically wise to call for President Donald Trump’s impeachment, as one bombshell revelation after another about his ties to Russia is forcing candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives to consider the question far sooner than anyone had expected.
In a significant development, party operatives say they expect Democrats to poll-test the public’s views on impeachment, trying to acquire hard data about an issue that until now has not been seriously analyzed. Other strategists say that candidates and party organizations will begin conducting focus groups on the question.
These operatives acknowledge they’ve been caught off guard by the speed with which impeachment has become a relevant issue – and are wary of the political damage it could cause if not handled correctly.
Even 10 days ago, before Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, few party officials had even considered such a dramatic move, which has happened only twice in American history.
“I mean, Jesus, it’s not even Memorial Day!” said one Democratic operative.
Only after testing the question with voters will the party have a firmer sense of how it should act.
