Exclusive: Nicholas L. Waddy explains how House action would benefit Republicans in 2024
We should make one thing clear: An impeachment inquiry into President Biden, leading ultimately to a vote in the House to impeach him, is extremely unlikely to lead to his removal from office. Two-thirds of senators would have to vote to convict him of whatever offenses the House "indicts" him for, presumably bribery, abuse of power, or something closely related. Democratic senators showed absolutely no appetite to convict Bill Clinton all the way back in 1999, even though they almost unanimously conceded that he was technically guilty of committing the relevant crimes. They simply didn't care and were inclined to dismiss the charges as politically motivated. In this day and age, by contrast, levels of partisanship and ideological acrimony are much higher, and thus it is highly improbable that a significant number of Democratic senators would cross the aisle to betray a sitting Democratic president. It is conceivable that, if they viewed such a president as fatally compromised, they would conspire to force him to resign, but impeachment and removal by constitutional means is a virtual impossibility.
Ergo, as Republicans and conservatives, we must ask ourselves: Why begin the process of impeachment against Joe Biden when it is almost certainly doomed to fail? Would it "feel" good to drag Biden through the mud? Yes. Would it rally the Republican base, at least as long as the impeachment inquiry and/or the Senate trial lasted? Probably. Would it insulate some House Republicans from the danger that they would be "primaried" by a more vehemently anti-Biden candidate to their right? Perhaps. Would it, however, fundamentally alter the political realities in America, or lastingly damage (or improve) Joe Biden's standing with the public? Based on Bill Clinton's and Donald Trump's experiences with impeachment, that seems highly dubious.
One could argue that the House is morally and constitutionally obligated to impeach Joe Biden because he has engaged in nefarious, self-interested activities that are, in fact, impeachable. Justice demands, therefore, that he face scrutiny, and ideally punishment, for his infractions. This argument is weak, however, because Biden always faces scrutiny, at least from the conservative press, and the House, by itself, is incapable of enforcing any kind of punishment against the president of the United States that would be meaningful. It can rake him over the coals, but, as Adam Schiff's recent censure demonstrated, this is a gambit that is just as likely to help its target politically as hurt him. So, again, what would be the point?
I humbly submit that there is a practical purpose for going forward with the impeachment of Joe Biden, and one that could entirely and easily justify the endeavor, from the perspective of Republicans, conservatives and patriots. Impeachment proceedings against Joe Biden, a vote to impeach him in the House and a Senate trial would be lastingly important only in one sense: They would affect public opinion. They would not, in all likelihood, affect the views of Republicans or even independents about Joe Biden. According to a Rasmussen poll, most Americans in both groups already believe it is "at least somewhat likely" that Biden has committed "high crimes and misdemeanors" since taking office, and many of them support, not surprisingly, a (futile) impeachment inquiry against him. Their anti-Biden views would be vindicated, perhaps, by an impeachment inquiry, but they would not be changed.
On the contrary, the people who would truly be galvanized by such an impeachment effort are Democrats. As of May, 71% of Democrats opposed a Biden impeachment inquiry. If President Biden were subjected to the full scrutiny of the House and a trial in the Senate, it is extremely likely that the mainstream media, and most Democrats, would rally to his defense. Much as Donald Trump has prospered politically recently, not despite, but because of, the innumerable felony charges left-wing prosecutors are laying against him, Biden too would benefit, especially in the short term, from the political side effects of a Republican campaign to remove him from office. Right now, Democrats are just beginning to ask questions about Biden's political viability, and to explore seriously the option of replacing him as the Democratic Party standard bearer. Impeaching him is the best way to put wind in his sails, at least among Democrats, to quiet any and all doubts about him on the Democratic side, and to ensure that he will be, regardless of his many defects, the Democratic candidate for president in 2024.
Republicans should ask themselves, therefore, before they commit to pursuing the impeachment of Joe Biden, whether they want to help him become the Democratic nominee and ensure he runs for reelection. Since there is a very strong argument to be made that he's a weak candidate – and could be made even weaker if more evidence can be amassed that he engaged in a bribery scheme with his family members – then the only reasonable conclusion that can be reached is that, yes, Republicans should impeach Joe Biden, both because he's deserving of it, and because it will forestall any possibility that an internal Democratic Party coup will remove him from the equation before 2024.
Put another way, an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden would be, in effect, the biggest and most decisive contribution we Republicans could possibly make to the Biden-Harris ticket – and, if we're to be honest, on its success may hinge our own. So, to the "hard-right" GOP House members currently clamoring for Joe Biden's impeachment, I say: bring it on!
https://www.wnd.com/2023/07/impeach-joe-biden-not-reasons-think/
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