Democrats from Trump districts will face a momentous decision on impeachment this week.
Ledyard King and Christal HayesWASHINGTON – Rep. Elissa Slotkin can tell when another TV ad criticizing her recent vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump has just aired in her central Michigan district: the angry calls to her congressional office spike.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi D-Calif., isn't strong-arming rank-and-file Democrats to support impeachment, calling it a vote of conscience. But to help them, she and her deputies have found ways to entice moderates to support such a politically risky move. That's given centrists the ability to counter the charge from GOP lawmakers that the obsession to impeach has smothered any ability to get things done on Capitol Hill.
As soon as Rep. Conor Lamb, a Pennsylvania Democrat who represents a Trump district, told a local TV station Thursday he would support impeachment, GOP opponent Sean Parnell pounced. With 233 seats and independent Justin Amash of Michigan supporting impeachment, Democrats could lose up to 18 members and still have the 216 needed to impeach Trump.The lack of bipartisan support, which Pelosi initially said was necessary for impeachment, has given opponents ammunition to dismiss the process as the partisan witch hunt Trump has so often labeled it. That criticism is likely to grow louder even if just a few Democrats join them.
Rep. Elaine Luria, whose Virginia district went to Trump by about 4 points, said she will vote for impeachment. But she also said it's important to show constituents that impeachment is not stymieing progress on bread-and-butter issues. "I will vote to impeach the President because this bribery and abuse of power violated the constitution and put our national security and our international relationships at risk," he said."In our democracy, we must hold elected officials accountable when they break the public trust and put their own interests before the good of our nation."
"I mean everyone's doing different things from calling key people in their life to pick their brain to rereading the intelligence reports, the testimonies, to some probably are praying,” he said.As monumental as their vote will be to the nation and their political legacies, many moderates interviewed said impeachment is not an issue that dominates back home. Constituents would rather talk about health care, the economy or trade, they said.
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