Last October, a
PPP poll found that 49 percent of voters already supported impeachment. A more recent poll
published by Axios in the wake of Michael Cohen's plea bargain shows just 44 percent supporting. And the Republican base is still behind Trump all the way. But as I pointed out last year when we first started talking about this, even Richard Nixon held out for nearly two years as his base stuck with him all the way and Republican senators did the same. He resigned largely because he'd lost the Southern Democrats who'd been propping him up. As Axios pointed out, "Nixon's impeachment numbers, as measured by Gallup polls at the time, didn't reach a majority until right before he resigned,
per the Pew Research Center." Bill Clinton's approval ratings soared when the Republicans impeached him, and every single Democrat in the Senate (along with several Republicans) voted against conviction.
It's hard to impeach a president; none has ever been removed from office through that mechanism. In these polarized times it would be harder than ever. But it's very possible to vote him out of office, especially if his high crimes and misdemeanors have been seriously aired for the public to see. Donald Trump's crimes may be revealed to have been so much worse than either of the previously impeached presidents that Republican senators would have no choice but to convict him in an impeachment trial. He's so corrupt and incompetent (and possibly disloyal) that it's hard to understand why they haven't impeached him themselves. But unless the proof is absolutely incontrovertible and his followers lose faith, they will probably stay with him. Most likely it's going to depend upon the American people to put things right again in 2020.
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