Freshman Democrats have a left-field — or rather, independent — idea for who should take on an impeachment manager role in President Trump’s Senate trial: Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI).
As long as Schiff has him in a hammerlock.
Nope. Too risky, you never know what he might do.
Only libs with unquestionable loyalty need apply.
Not particularly enamored with this idea. He’s still a RWNJ regardless of what he’s said about trump.
TBH, if the dems want to poke the bear, I’d go with Maxine or some other strong woman of color and punch all of dipshit’s buttons.
Being one of Amash’s constituents…I’m not sure how that plays in his district since the media here has in some sense turned against him since Betsy withdrew her financial support for him.
The local news made mention of this over the weekend and because the district leans Republican, made so much worse by how gerrymandered it has become, the reporting on this was less than effusive or a sign of pride as one might expect coming from one of their hometown boys. In fact it was rather ho-hum.
I think it´s a swell idea.
Last month, Amash railed against his former Republican colleagues for spinning the impeachment probe “like we’re all stupid, like we can’t see what’s going on.”
He gets it, and he´d be one among 14, or whatever the number ends up being.
One of the twitter posts in the article said it succinctly:
Mollifying disingenuous, intellectually bereft criticism from Republicans about fairness shouldn’t be a concern.
THAT. Democrats, pay fucking attention! You aren’t going to stop the partisan hacks and you’re not going to mollify the “Trump is King” crowd ever. Just do your job and call the Republicans “corrupt” for supporting a corrupt president. Do it over and over and over and over again and again so that the loosely affiliated Trumpsters hear it and stay home in 2020.
He gets it, but the Republicans have written him out of their wills. He’s an outcast now. Excommunicated from the flock. He really is without a pot to piss in for reelection too. He won’t persuade any of them because he lacks the necessary fealty to the level of corruption they have put in place. He’s not part of any donor class anymore either and he has nothing the Republicans want of him. So whose mind is he going to change?
Or better yet, a choke hold.
I don’t think this is about any “appeal to conservative voters”, regardless of what the article says.
This is about pulling the rug out from under an (otherwise) coming he said/she said narrative.
(It also publicly deflates Trump’s impeachment-isn’t-bipartisan lie.)
Everyone knows it can’t appeal to Republicans – they’re totally gone.
It’s an appeal to moderates, indies, and the public at large.
(And, perhaps mostly, to the easily-manipulated corporate-press scrum.)
He provides cover for some small group of independents and Rs who wouldn´t mind seeing Trump axed, but really don´t like D pols. Not going to change much, but every little bit helps.
I don’t know if I’m for this or against it, but it’s outside the box.
I was gonna add up there in my post that Republicans are goners in the Senate. They won’t be swayed by Amash, but perhaps a few Libertarian types like Amash, or Independents and Republican women in the burbs will see this differently. And Amash does have that “flyover” cred that Gym Jordan seems to ridiculously claim is being ignored. If that helps, I’m all for it. But there will be other managers so maybe I shouldn’t sweat the small stuff.
Those Dems whose idea this is are looking at this wrong. This, in my view, is a silly strategy.
It presumes that conservative voters, who aren’t swayed by the indefensible facts of the case, will somehow be persuaded by the presence of a single “independent” representative.
Pelosi should put forth a team who have prosecutor experience and who have the ability to present the case with clarity and vigor and not for the sake of political pandering.
Marcy Wheeler is in his district and supports the idea.
Another contributor on her site isn’t as in favor, but he is such a dick, even if he is knowledgeable.
Be nice to have someone that would look at all the facts and make a judgement based on that, but either way big thing is 2020 election needs to be a landslide against Rs.
this
Do you really think Amash is going to whip out a MAGA hat and give a Gym Jordan-style rant from the podium when it’s his turn to speak? The guy has been pro-impeachment since long before the Ukraine stuff made it inevitable. He was very good in the Oversight Committee hearings, in strong contrast with the other members of the minority. He ended up resigning from the caucus and lost his committee seats as a result. He has not, so far as I have been able to discern, ever defended El Jefe Naranja’s conduct with respect to any aspect of the impeachment proceedings.
Do you really suspect he’s a plant or a wild card? I think it’s much more likely that he’s somebody who could effectively reach marginal Trump supporters and the 8-12% of the public who just can’t say one way or the other whether Trump should be impeached and removed.
I just don’t trust anyone who was a republican until just a few months ago.
He could go totally fine, or could be a third rail that makes everything implode.
Not worth the risk.
Plus, it’s a plum assignment that should go to those who will also benefit from it, not as a throw-away.
AOC is top of my personal list for inclusion, need other demonstrated loyalists to fill it out.
Interesting argument and thread. Not sure I agree with her on all of it. Especially in regards to faux libertarians like Cruz, Lee and Paul. They’re poseurs. They’re libertarian when its beneficial as a way to carve out a contrarian view, that in truth has more to do with bogus legal principles and really not based on any serious tenets of Libertarianism. I see their faux adherence to libertarian values more in line with the kind of white male privilege that undergirds most of their legislative impetus. When party dictates run afoul to their ultra-conservative libertarian bullshit they quickly and conveniently abandon that outer shell. But from her post, I now I have a vague idea about where Wheeler lives. Maybe I’ll have the opportunity of running into her sometime. I’d love to chew the fat with her. She’s such an interesting person.