| | | | How Democrats fell out of love with impeaching Trump |  | | Almost from the day that Donald Trump won the White House in 2016, a significant chunk of Democrats have wanted Congress to throw him out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue via impeachment. Which makes the latest finding on impeachment in a CNN-SSRS poll all the more intriguing.
Just more than one in three respondents said they support an effort to impeach Trump. That's down from 43% who said the same in December and 47% who supported impeachment earlier in the fall of 2018. But more amazingly -- at least to me! -- is that while 80% of self-identified Democrats said they backed impeaching Trump in December, just 68% feel that way now.
Remarkable, no?
The decline in the desire of Democrats to run Trump out of town on a rail comes roughly a week after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) went public with her opposition to pursuing impeachment against Trump. Pelosi told The Washington Post:
"I'm not for impeachment. This is news. I'm going to give you some news right now because I haven't said this to any press person before. But since you asked, and I've been thinking about this: Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don't think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he's just not worth it."
Pelosi's stance drew praise from a very unlikely source -- former Trump political strategist Steve Bannon -- who, in an interview for Showtime's "The Circus," said he would give her a 10 out of 10 on how she has managed the speakership and talk of impeachment.
What will be interesting to watch in the coming weeks and months is whether 2020 presidential candidates -- many of whom have already called for Trump's impeachment -- walk back that rhetoric even slightly, or whether they will double down because that's what the base wants.
Asked in a CNN-sponsored town hall Monday about her stance on impeachment, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said this:
"So we have a report that is due from the special prosecutor any day now. Understand that that investigation from Mr. Mueller has produced already -- I believe it's 34 indictments or guilty pleas. This is a serious investigation. We need to protect him in finishing that report, and then that report needs to be made public to the American people. When we get it, we will know what to do with it."
Which, if you're playing along at home, isn't a direct answer.
The Point: Keep an eye on whether more 2020 Democrats start hedging --a la Warren -- on impeachment. Polling suggests Democrats are considerably less hyped about the prospect than they were even six months ago.
-- Chris | | "Let it come out. Let people see it."
-- President Donald Trump on the Mueller report on Russian meddling, though he added that Attorney General William Barr will decide if it will be released publicly. | | | The Midwest is calling for President Donald Trump. He is in Ohio today, but not for a campaign rally.
Trump is spotlighting the Buckeye State's manufacturing prowess, touring an Army tank plant in Lima in western Ohio, despite GM's recent plant closure in eastern Ohio's Lordstown.
In Lima, Trump doubled down on his criticism of late Sen. John McCain, telling factory workers that "I have to be honest. I never liked him much. Hasn't been for me."
The President will be back in the Midwest for a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan< on March 28.
(Speaking of Trump's 2020 operation -- It's VERY SLEEK and a major evolution from the campaign's ramshackle 2016 operation, including an unprecedented partnership with the RNC and a historically large war chest.) | | | Chris spent today listening to the new American Football record. And, if you don't know about American Football, read this piece from The Ringer. | | The latest presidential contender released more details on his blockbuster fundraising haul of $6.1 million (the largest 24-hour sum we've yet seen this cycle).
Of Beto O'Rourke's first day of donations, 128,000 were unique contributions (translated: made by 128,000 people) and an average sum of $47. His campaign released the information ahead of the FEC's disclosures.
Size of donation matters, at least for Sen. Bernie Sanders and his supporters, who have frequently touted the low-dollar average donation of $27 to the Vermont senator's presidential campaigns.
Sanders, in comparison, raised $5.9 million in his first 24-hour window, with 220,000 donors and an average donation of (of course) $27 -- two data points the Sanders campaign has touted as a show of strength. | | John Hickenlooper: Will participate in his CNN town hall tonight from Atlanta, moderated by Dana Bash. The hall starts at 10 p.m. Eastern.
Andrew Gillum: Teased an announcement about his 2020 plans ... and those plans are launching a voter registration drive. | | Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is re-upping an effort to rename a Senate office building after late Sen. John McCain.
The push comes after President Donald Trump again criticized McCain, who died five months ago. The plan (which stalled out last session) would rename the Russell Senate Office Building -- currently named after Georgia Democratic Sen. Richard B. Russell.
Russell was a segregationist who vehemently opposed the Civil Rights Act. He served in the Senate for nearly 40 years.
But there's not complete support for the plan. Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson (a Republican) today railed against Trump's McCain criticism, but did not boost Schumer's renaming plan. | | | | | | |
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