… I’ve been through the impeachment process up close and personal as director of planning for former Speaker Newt Gingrich, and I can say definitively that the decision to move forward on the impeachment of President Bill Clinton was a sobering experience, not the stuff of parody. But back then, […] Read more »
Democrats Risk a Referendum on Impeachment, Rather Than on Trump
Democrats now seem to be hurtling toward something that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and many other party leaders had desperately tried to avoid: impeaching President Trump. Pelosi has probably spent more time with Trump than any House Democrat. It’s safe to say she can’t stand the man. She just thought […] Read more »
Why Trump’s impeachment inquiry will be more divisive than Nixon/Clinton
If impeachment of the president is always a match, today it is dropping into a much larger pool of gasoline than it did under President Richard Nixon or even President Bill Clinton. After years of steadily rising partisan conflict, the inquiry that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced last week may […] Read more »
This is my third impeachment. Here’s what I’ve learned.
… No two presidents are alike, of course, and no two impeachment battles are alike. Nixon resigned in disgrace in 1974 once it was clear that he would be impeached by the House and removed by the Senate. Clinton was impeached by the House but acquitted in the Senate, and […] Read more »
Impeachment and public opinion: Three key indicators to watch
There have been two serious efforts in the past half-century to impeach and remove a U.S. president from office. The first, which ended in 1974, led to the resignation of its target—President Richard Nixon. The second, which began in 1998 against President Bill Clinton, led to the resignation of the […] Read more »
Why comparing Trump’s approval with past presidents doesn’t tell us much about 2020
Earlier this week, President Trump announced proudly to the world (via Twitter, of course) that his approval rating had hit 53 percent. If that number surprises you, it should. It’s from a notoriously Trump-friendly pollster that only reflects people it determines are “likely voters” — and which currently shows only […] Read more »