Matthew O’Connell: Anti-impeachment
October 8, 2019
I do not believe that President Donald J. Trump should be impeached for several reasons. But, the central reason is because of division. Impeachment is a very divisive measure. In 1998, when the Republican-controlled House decided to impeach President Bill Clinton for high crimes and misdemeanors, it completely backfired on the Republicans. It caused Clinton’s approval rating to skyrocket and it left many on the right in regret. On December 15-16, 1998, Clinton’s average approval rating stood at 63%, according to CNN, Gallup, and USA Today. After the impeachment verdict (Impeachment vote in the House on obstruction of justice: 221-212), Clinton’s average approval rating rose to 73%. Luckily for Clinton, he still got to remain in office. The Senate voted against his conviction 55-45 with 0 Democratic Senators voting yes and 10 Republican Senators voting no. So, essentially, this ultimately did nothing except increase the overall popularity of Clinton. A similar situation would likely happen with President Trump. NBC reported that the majority of House members now support some type of impeachment actions against the president, whether it’s an inquiry or article drafting. The exact number of representatives supporting impeachment is 225. Democrats are at 224 plus Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI). However, the Republican-controlled Senate would never convict the president, which is comparable to the result during the 1998 impeachment trial. After Speaker Pelosi launched a formal inquiry, Trump’s approval rating jumped to 53%, according to Rasmussen Reports. This is just proof that impeachment is not relatable with the majority of the American people. If the proceedings were successful, and the House decided to impeach the president, many in the media would guarantee his approval rating would soar. It could cause his base of voters to approve of him even more, and they would vote for him in the 2020 election without a doubt. The Democratic voting base would be satisfied with impeachment, however, it could cause many people to reject the party next year by attracting a decent amount of independent and moderate/conservative democratic voters to his reelection campaign as well. Personally, I like the president. I like his policies and I think he is much better than any other candidate running for president. However, there is a certain question that everyone should ask themselves. Is it really worth it to impeach him and make him gain popularity, or would it be better to try to beat him in 2020 with campaign issue and promises that can tempt voters to the Democratic field?