Mitch was all ready to get the Senate trial done before the holidays, but in classic Lucy fashion Nancy Pelosi pulled the football out from under him when she chose to delay sending the impeachment articles to the Senate. McConnell didn't see this coming as it was something he thought only he would do.
Nancy can hold off sending the articles of impeachment indefinitely, leaving Trump's fate in limbo for weeks or even months. Lindsey Graham proclaimed that the president finds this grossly unfair. This despite Trump shutting down government for nearly a month at the start of the year, holding federal workers' pay checks in limbo.
Trump's been crying from the beginning, so upset that Nancy would have the audacity to launch an impeachment inquiry despite his effort to cop a plea deal when news first broke of his perfect call. Since then Republican lawmakers have been circling the wagons, hoping to protect their dear president. Mitch has vowed to work directly with the White House during the trial, which is why Nancy chose to delay it. The football is in her hands at the moment, and she isn't going to let anyone have it until she gets some assurances that the Republican-led Senate will make an effort to hear witnesses, preferably those closet to the president.
Seems like a pretty shrewd move, but the media has been claiming this tactic may backfire, with Trump playing himself as a martyr. Well, Trump has been portraying himself as the bereaved from day one of his campaign. He often babbles incoherently that this is nothing more than a poorly guided attempt to steal his improbable 2016 election victory. He's called Nancy every name he could think of, but she's been unfazed and will remain so, a testament to her own fortitude.
There's no doubt Trump will add millions to his campaign war chest. He's been piling up the money hand over fist, but will it really help him come next November? Americans are already saturated with Trump 24/7. This is one of the reasons so many people have favored impeachment, and for the first time a majority favor removal. Most people are sick of seeing him on the news all the time. Even late-night comics seem to have had their fill of Trump, as their audiences have become so inured to the jokes it is no longer funny.
One of things Trump has recently learned is that you can counter bad press with good press. He's been heavily pushing his China deal, which his spokesmen claim is the best deal ever, although trade analysts aren't quite so sure. However, he has recently been preoccupied by having less-than-memorable scene cut from Home Alone 2 on Canadian television, yet another sad indicator that it is hard to hold Trump's attention for very long.
As for Mitch, he is finding criticism from within his own ranks in working too close with the president on the trial. Lisa Murkowski is none too happy about this co-ordination effort, saying "we have to take that step back from being hand in glove with the defense." She actually found the impeachment proceedings "rushed," unlike many of her colleagues who felt the House spent too much time on nothing. Does this mean Lisa will vote in favor of impeachment? Probably not, but she wants the Senate to at least create the pretense of impartiality.
This is what has been so odd about the whole proceeding. Trump used a military spending bill that had been overwhelmingly approved by Congress as leverage to get information from Ukraine on his top political opponent. You would think Congressional Republicans would be furious. Instead, they let Trump bully them into acquiescence. Who'd ever think that this once proud political party would let themselves be so easily rolled by a con man?
Nancy did the right thing by making Mitch think a little about his lack of impartiality. This is about maintaining the semblance of an independent legislative branch of government, not one ready to cede all power to the president.
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