January 22, 2021 01:30 PM UTC

It Sucks to be a Senate Republican

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• by: Colorado Pols

As CNN reports, Senate Republicans are in a really bad place amid news that articles of impeachment against former President Trump will be delivered to the Senate on Monday:

CNN has learned that dozens of influential Republicans around Washington — including former top Trump administration officials — have been quietly lobbying GOP members of Congress to impeach and convict Donald Trump. The effort is not coordinated but reflects a wider battle inside the GOP between those loyal to Trump and those who want to sever ties and ensure he can never run for President again.

The lobbying started in the House after the January 6 attack on the Capitol and in the days leading up to impeachment. But it’s now more focused on Sen. Mitch McConnell, the powerful minority leader who has signaled he may support convicting Trump.
“Mitch said to me he wants Trump gone,” one Republican member of Congress told CNN. “It is in his political interest to have him gone. It is in the GOP interest to have him gone. The question is, do we get there?”…

…The ongoing Republican whisper campaign, according to more than a dozen sources who spoke to CNN, is based on a shared belief that a successful conviction is critical for the future of the Republican party. Multiple sources describe this moment as a reckoning for the party. [Pols emphasis]

It would take 17 Senate Republicans to vote YES on to convict Trump for impeachment on the charge of inciting an insurrection. That’s probably unlikely, but we’ve reached a point where the outcome could be less important for Republicans than the journey itself.

The lobbying effort has included behind-the-scenes pressure by Republican donors, calls from former top Trump White House officials, and a set of talking points circulating among Republicans arguing for Trump’s impeachment. [Pols emphasis]

We wouldn’t say that this is a battle for the “soul” of the Republican Party, because — let’s be honest — that ship sailed a long time ago. But this sort of reporting from CNN underscores the fact that the lines of support have shifted dramatically. The bill is coming due for Republicans who embraced Trump over the years, and it’s STEEP.

There is no doubt that a contingent of powerful Republicans — including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — would like to impeach Trump in order to speed the process of ridding themselves of the Big Orange Guy altogether. But there are plenty of other Republicans, including House Qaucus members like Rep. Lauren “Q*Bert” Boebert (R-Fox News) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who are diehard Trump supporters and would pounce at any sign of disloyalty from Senate Republicans. And, as CNN notes, Trump still has his backers in the Senate as well:

McConnell is also facing pressure from a faction of Senate Republicans to stick with Trump, with some telling CNN that support for conviction could threaten McConnell’s leadership.

“No, no, no,” Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican and Trump ally, told CNN when asked if he could support McConnell if he voted to convict Trump, calling such a vote a “dangerous precedent” and adding: “I don’t even think we should be having a trial.”

So…you can vote to impeach Trump and help speed the process for the Republican Party to potentially return to some form of sane discussion, but doing so will infuriate Trump’s lunatic base of supporters and potentially spawn immediate leadership challenges.

— OR —

You can vote against impeachment and appease the Trumpians, but that will anger other influential Republicans because you’re kicking the can down the road on a comeuppance that will have to happen eventually anyway.

The right and moral choice is not difficult: You vote to impeach Trump. But Congressional Republicans, and McConnell specifically, have been laser-focused for years on doing whatever keeps them in power. From a political perspective, there is simply no good answer here for Republicans.

Welcome to the reckoning.