Steerpike

You mean 2020 electoral map.

johnwoo

Yes of course that should have been 2020.

BenK91

Would love to be a fly on the wall in a Democratic meeting after Muellers hearing today... Backfired a little for them.

johnwoo

How so? If you actually listened to what he said, he confirmed and then some as to what what the Democrats have been saying all along.
Of course Republicans and fellow travelers are never going to change their minds no matter how much it's glaringly oblivious that Trump is a crook, liar, self interested and lacking any moral character.

BenK91

How so? Democrats *asked* for this hearing, expecting some bombshell news to drop, it didn't. The worst thing that happened in the entire hearing was Mueller stating his disdain for Trumps Wikileaks comments. Hardly the kind of juice the leftist morons were wanting.

Sure, it wasn't harmless for Trump, but it also certainly wasn't damaging as such. It's just confirming the democrats are losing 2020 before they even get there.
'The Squad' (a *self-indentified* group of incredibly moronic and pro-socialism liberals) are now the face of the Democrat party, that's definitely just what they needed in those swing states...

To quote the most biased news network, CNN - the hearing was a disappointment for Republicans and also Democrats:

"3. ... and Democrats


In that same opening statement, Mueller said he would not address any questions involving Attorney General William Barr or the actions of Congress. That's a big blow for Democrats, who very much wanted to explore differences in public statements about the special counsel investigation between Mueller and Barr, particularly as it related to how Barr characterized the findings of the report on obstruction."

johnwoo

Anyone that cannot see that Barr misrepresented the Mueller report is delusional, extrapolating his overall testimony you would have to be unable or unwilling to comprehend anything he said.
It's not like the report wasn't public before the hearing. Mueller not only confirmed what we already knew, he reiterated it and expanded on it.

scrubbedexpat099

Well time will tell, impeachment?

All I know is that the MSM were not happy. An understatement so take that for what it is worth.

BenK91

zargof

The whole Mueller hearing was pointless because everyone has already made up their minds about the Mueller report. It didn't change anything. Pelosi isn't going to start impeachment proceedings until there is the smoking gun that is never going to appear.

All that is going to happen is that Democrats will keep saying how Trump isn't fit to be President while doing nothing about it, but still giving him the votes for increasing the defense spending while asking how we pay for free college.

civilservant

The problem is that Trump is interspersing some crazy stuff with some sane stuff the closer we get to the election. While I don't like the guy at all, I do give him some props for ignoring the far right and signing on to this budget deal. It's not perfect, but it will push off fiscal cliffs and shutdowns until the new administration has it's feet under the desk.

That's coming awfully close to 'normal' for him.

zargof

When it comes to policies, Trump is pretty much a standard Republican. The problem is he keeps saying the quiet part loud.

Giantaxe

So the hearing played into Pelosi's hands, which many will perceive as a good thing. The Democrats are in a really difficult position here because Trump really should be impeached on four obstruction charges, but it's pointless and counterproductive because the Senate is never going to convict him. But by not starting impeachment proceedings, they are sending a terrible message. As a recent article in The Economist said "Trump is above the law, for the moment". Obviously I'm hoping that "moment" ends in January 2021, allowing him to be indicted.

zargof

I don't see the Democrats being in that difficult of a position. Why not going ahead with impeachment? So what that the Senate won't convict? You would get that on record, and then be able to say that all of these Senators think the President is above the law and here is their vote to prove it. I mean why did the House pass a law to increase the minimum wage? The Senate is never going to pass that while Mitch McConnell is in charge. But it does show that increasing the minimum wage is part of the Democrats's agenda. This is a good thing.

The reason Pelosi won't impeach is because she thinks it will energize Trump's base and get more Republican voters out in 2020. The problem is Trump's base is already energized and by not pursuing impeachment it depresses the Democrats' base by not showing fight. It's a terrible strategy, but that seems par for the course with Democrats.

caretaker

"I want to see him in jail." Forgive me if I misquote. Wasn't her original excuse that if impeachment proceedings went forward and failed, that he then couldn't be convicted after he was out of office?

scrubbedexpat099

Well if the Dems really want to go through impeachment then they will, no one member can stop that.