Bill Clinton Had a Strategy. Trump Is Doing the Opposite.
The Atlantic
Donald Trump may have no impeachment war room, but he does have an impeachment strategy. He deployed it this past weekend.
Its the same strategy he brought to his presidential campaign, then to his presidency: all base, all the time. In 1998 and 99, Bill Clinton directed his anti-impeachment messaging to voters who did not necessarily approve of him, but who feared impeachment as disruptive. Trumps message is aimed only at his most all-in supporters, those who see him as a victim of plots and persecution by shadowy, unseen forces.
On December 19, 1998, the day the House voted to impeach Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice, he read a short statement at the White House. He urged the Senate to adjudicate the impeachment in a reasonable, proportionate, and bipartisan manner. He tried to appeal to a greater good, saying, We must get rid of the poisonous venom of excessive partisanship, obsessive animosity and uncontrolled anger. That is not what America deserves. That is not what America is about.
That is not the tone weve heard from Trump in the past 48 hours. Its as if the Trump campaign has read the Clinton playbook, and at every turn opted for the opposite.