… Public opinion has reflected that a majority or close to a majority of the public has continued to approve of Mueller, despite the constant attacks from the President. Meanwhile, Trump has yet to win a majority of American voter support in his first two years in office. It would seem, then, that the public agrees that the substance of the charges is serious, and the content of the Mueller report only intensifies the severity of what the President has done while in office. …
Democrats who fear a backlash to moving forward with the impeachment process might want to consider the political consequence of being a party that decides to let this abuse of power stand. At the most basic level, doing nothing will allow Trump to spin his narrative that the entire issue was a partisan hit job.
And political parties can be rewarded for doing the right thing. The entire Watergate saga made this clear. CONT.
Julian Zelizer (Princeton), CNN