I think the Democrats' strategy should be...

[kentuck]

...to take a secret vote in the caucus and see how many votes they are to 218?

It would be better to have a few more but that would be enough to open an official Impeachment Investigation, with no questions about its legitimacy.

Today was a big step toward that, in my opinion. The Republicans' strategy did not go the way they planned, in my opinion. Because they believed that the Mueller Report had already been discredited and Lewandowski was going to claim some sort of executive privilege from the White House. He let it be known that he was ordered to do so.

But, for the very first time, they have validation from a witness that Donald Trump dictated a message for him to give to the AG to stop the Mueller investigation.

Democrats should take a head count of Democrats for Impeachment Investigation.

[TwilightZone]

1. They don't need a secret vote.

Pelosi knows exactly how many votes there are for and against. That's kind of her job.

House members don't operate in a vacuum.

[kentuck]

4. I thought that was the "Whip's" job?

Not the Speaker's?

It is so dumb not to have 218 votes for impeachment, just so you have the power to do so, whether you impeach or not. Why not show your strongest hand?

[StarfishSaver]

5. The Whip reports to the Speaker

Before becoming Minority Leader, Pelosi was the Minority Whip and one of the best Whips in history. This is her wheelhouse.

[kentuck]

7. Right!

So Jim Clyburn knows where every vote is at any given time?

We might as well surrender, to hear some people talk.

[StarfishSaver]

8. Exactly!

And he's working with a Speaker who knows this process better than anybody. And don't forget that Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is also a former whip.

The Democratic leadership team knows exactly where every vote is.

[Hotler]

2. Turn out the lights, walk away and.....

cross fingers on election day.

[GulfCoast66]

3. There will be no impeachment.

We won in 2018 by winning moderate districts with moderate democrats. They know impeachment will kill their chances of winning those seats again in 2020. Pelosi is not going to give up the Democratic majority on a destined to fail shot at impeachment. Thank god.

And you know all those republicans retiring? None are from safe Democratic districts. We go the impeachment route we pick up few if any of them.

We won in 18 by focusing on making people’s life more secure, mainly with our healthcare message. But we can grow it in 20 by running on insuring a stable SS system and a beefed up Medicare. Not Medicare for all but certainly insuring no one goes bankrupt due to healthcare costs. That alone would win it for us as it is the greatest fear of all middle income Americans, Democratic or republican.

When I first joined here there used to be lots of threads by progressives lamenting the lack of a 50 state strategy. Seldom see that today because they now realize a 50 state strategy means, by definition, a more moderate house. And Senate if we happen to win it. It means several Manchins. Personally, as a more moderate Democrat if only by DU standards I love seeing it.

All these hearings, Mueller, impeachment, you name it. They really mean nothing. All that mattered in 16 was 18 and all that matters today is 2020. We lose that focus at our peril.

[kentuck]

6. Democrats won in 2018 because the voters wanted someone to hold Trump accountable...

..moreso than any issue that you mentioned above.

[GulfCoast66]

9. Respectfully you are incorrect.

I agree trump had a lot to do with it.

But polling showed it was the healthcare message more than any other that switched suburbanites to vote Democratic.

I love DU. But it is a poor representation of Democratic voters as a whole and totally disconnected from the average voter. You think the average voter even knew there were hearings today?

There is no ground swell for impeachment. There is a huge groundswell for preventing hard working middle class Americans from losing all they have worked for due to a medical emergency.

We won in 18 by focusing narrowly on that issue. The benefits of the ACA. We win in 20 by explaining how we expand those benefits. Along with shoring up SS and strengthening Medicare for retirees. Something we all agree with.

We make this election solely on trump we lose.

Have a very nice evening. I enjoy your posts.

[kentuck]

10. We disagree.

Nobody has said to make the election solely on Trump, but if you try to ignore the elephant in the room, we are more likely to lose, in my humble opinion.

[GulfCoast66]

11. Not sure we really disagree.

If we were sitting at a table enjoying a beverage of our choice I bet we would find way more common ground than typing over a website.

My largest trepidation about DU or any political web site is how easy it is to make opponents out of people we agree with 95% of the time. Or even 99% of the time.

We evolved as a species in a way that we use visualization as much as verbal. And typed stuff is not at all involved in our evolution as a species. I love DU. But have learned that in-time text is a poor way to communicate complicated subjects.

Remember. We are on the same team.

Have a nice evening

[kentuck]

12. This next election is a referendum on Donald Trump.

There are several extremely important issues, including healthcare and global warming, but when your house is on fire, all issues are secondary to putting out the fire.

Have a good evening.

[kentuck]

13. I think the next subpoenas should go out to the officers and/or servicemen that lodged at Trump's...

...resort in Scotland. It would be interesting to hear what they know or what they have been told?

Where did they get their orders from?

Who did they get their orders from?

This would keep the White House off guard.

Of course, since he is the Commander in Chief, Trump may claim that the military belongs to him and he doesn't want them to testify.