Headline of the Day

Democrats Who Are Undecided on Impeachment Aren’t ‘Moderates’. They’re Political Hacks.

—Dan Froomkin

He's right.

I think that the impeachment is mismanaged, they are rushing the process and not exposing the full level of sleaze of the Trump administration, but there level of cowardice, even for Representatives in Republican leaning districts, is beneath contempt.

What's more, to quote (not) Tallyrand, it's worse than a crime, it's a mistake, because anyone who believes that the impeachment is some sort of deep state conspiracy will never ever vote for a Democrat:

What can we conclude about those few Democratic congressional representatives who claim they haven’t decided yet how to vote on impeachment?

We can conclude that they lack consistent principles.

We can conclude that, in the face of overwhelming evidence, they have chosen neither to accept it, like almost all the other members of their party, nor ignore it, like all the members of the other party.

We can therefore conclude that they are instead making up their mind based on something else entirely.

And we can easily conclude what that is: They are basing their votes on what they think they need to do to win reelection. They are not looking into their souls. They are sticking a finger up into the wind.

Republican members of Congress at least have an intellectually consistent reason to vote against impeachment: They have chosen to throw in their lot with Trump, quite literally no matter what.

But these Democrats are in a special category. You could call them political hacks. You could call them unprincipled, opportunistic, cowardly, spineless, vacillating, fainthearted, jittery, or dissolute.

Or, if you are a member of the elite political press, you could call them “moderates” and “centrists.”

There are areas where Democrats can disagree, but this is just careerism without a shred of values.

When push comes to shove, if they don't vote for impeachment, they should not be in office, and they should be primaried.