Let’s face it. Democrats put a great deal of effort into destroying Donald Trump.
But they’ve been out maneuvered at every turn. How?
Of course Donald Trump is a man of hurricane force. But even so, he needed a little help to squash Democrats and their impeachment farce. Enter Mitch McConnell. Together, they’re an unstoppable dream team.
Just a few days ago, headlines said “McConnell Doesn’t Have the Votes.” MSNBC, The Wallstreet Journal, and other mainstream media channels ran with the headline. Leftists celebrated. Nancy Pelosi was feeling pretty smug. But many of us knew there was something brewing.
In fact, McConnell worked quietly, and feverishly, but the slight grin on his face said “checkmate” long before the victory was clear.
McConnell’s Strategy
McConnell kept his strategy at the forefront of the impeachment hearings. One might say McConnell closed ranks. Furthermore, he forced Democrats to put all their cards on the table.
From Day 1, Nancy Pelosi thought she could influence McConnell. She tried to make demands. Recall the days she spent “holding the articles” to influence the Senate process. From that moment, McConnell was in charge and Pelosi didn’t even know it. He gave Pelosi no concessions.
On the outside, McConnell appeared calm, cool and collected. He kept a low profile. Often, McConnell appeared only to announce transitions between opening arguments and question\answer sessions or various breaks.
Meanwhile, Manager Schiff performed in his self-created media circus. And while Schiff put his clown act on display, McConnell met with Republicans. At the time, he lacked four votes to bypass additional testimony. He could only afford to lose three votes. Thus, he needed one Senator to step up and join the crowd.
Problem Solved
Wednesday, things started to look up. Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner decided to get with the program. Likely because his seat is endangered, and he needs Trump in his corner if he doesn’t want a ticket out of DC.
“I do not believe we need to hear from an 18th witness,” Gardner said in a statement, adding that he had “reached this decision after carefully weighing the House managers and defense arguments and closely reviewing the evidence from the House, which included well over 100 hours of testimony from 17 witnesses.”
But Gardner wasn’t enough to tilt the scales. Thus, Mitch McConnell took the other swing votes under his wing. And when Senator Alexander made his decision, it was #GameOver.
“If this shallow, hurried and wholly partisan impeachment were to succeed, it would rip the country apart, pouring gasoline on the fire of cultural divisions that already exist,” Alexander said. “It would create the weapon of perpetual impeachment to be used against future presidents whenever the House of Representatives is of a different political party.”
He added: “The framers believed that there should never, ever be a partisan impeachment. That is why the Constitution requires a 2/3 vote of the Senate for conviction. Yet not one House Republican voted for these articles.”
In fact, Alexander pointed out that whether or not Trump withheld aid, it’s a moot point.
“The question then is not whether the president did it, but whether the United States Senate or the American people should decide what to do about what he did,” Alexander said. “I believe that the Constitution provides that the people should make that decision in the presidential election that begins in Iowa on Monday. The Senate has spent nine long days considering this ‘mountain’ of evidence, the arguments of the House managers and the president’s lawyers, their answers to senators’ questions and the House record. Even if the House charges were true, they do not meet the Constitution’s ‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors’ standard for an impeachable offense.”
It took Alexander a little more time and consideration. But McConnell masterfully led his party to victory. Now, McConnell will go down in history as the chess master. Just like Donald Trump.
