The trial ended about as one would have anticipated in that there was less than a two-thirds majority of the Senators who voted to convict. The vote was 57-43 in favor of conviction, with seven brave Republicans crossing the line to join all of the Democrats. A few reflections:
- The Senate—more precisely 43 Senate Republicans—abandoned their responsibility to play the role that only the Senate could, in upholding the Constitution of the United States and making it clear that no one, not even a President, could violate his Oath of Office by seeking to overthrow the established principles of our Constitutional government, in this case, honoring elections and securing a peaceful transition of power.
Yes, the Republican leader, Sen. McConnell, explicitly underscored the availability of criminal procedures against President Trump as a private citizen, but no criminal or civil action can, even if successful, take the place of what only the conviction of impeachment would have, in explicitly upholding the Constitution of the United States. That is what was at stake here.
2. The fact that this was the strongest bipartisan support of impeachment of any president in the nation’s history stands as a stark fact that will not be forgotten.
The names of the seven Republicans who stood up will be forever recognized and I believe celebrated by almost all.
3. The incontrovertible evidence that Trump was singularly responsible for spreading the lies, the mythical conspiracy theories, and the vitriolic rhetoric without which this crowd would not have attacked the Capitol, was denied by almost none. The linkage of this to the deaths of five people and the injury of over 100 people, many seriously, will not be forgotten. The conclusion of the final commentary by Republican leader Mitch McConnell, even if it followed his “not guilty” verdict, based on a controversial and flawed view of the Constitutional right of the Senate to convict Trump now that he is out of office, will serve as a ringing affirmation of the case which the House prosecutors so ably presented.
The defense which Trump’s legal team tried to mount was feeble and not taken seriously by just about anyone, Republicans included.
4. Grassroots support for Trump will not go away. Nor will he. He will continue to fan his base with his victim mentality, both for him and for them. It is hard to say how many of the 74 million people who voted for him in 2020 would do so again. We will get polls on this. My guess is the number might drop by up to 20-25% in the intermediate future as the criminal and civil charges against him play out.
The Republican Party faces a huge challenge, with no clear outcome in sight. What will the Republican Party stand for? It can’t be for what Trump stands for. In fact, he doesn’t really stand for anything outside of himself and his spread of victim mentality and his appeal to the baser instincts of division and hate. Pursuing that as a party would in the end be a fool’s errand, not only bad for the party, but for the country--for the country really does need a viable two-party system.
There are leaders whose character, instinct and temperament could play a leadership role. Who will emerge is anybody’s guess at this point. Romney will certainly be a senior statesman of the best sort. Whether he has the will or the means to rally the party around him is very much in doubt. Many if not most will see him as too liberal.
On one thing I do feel sure now. History will look back on the Trump presidency as a dangerous aberration that carried with it great risk for the country.
While having carried far more danger because he occupied the presidency and because of his broad appeal, I believe he will fit into the same type of bucket as Joe McCarthy, Fr. Coughlin and Huey Long.
How he is viewed, however, will depend in no small measure on how the Republican Party evolves from here; whether it can find a new purpose and set of principles which continue to rally many of the people who support President Trump, but brings together others who in the past would have been part of the Republican Party. Who will lead this? I believe someone who is probably still relatively young who will come to see this as their mission in life. Let's hope this happens sooner rather than later.
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