House Democrat explains why he voted against the impeachment resolution

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

Reps. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey and Collin Peterson of Minnesota were the only two Democrats to vote against the impeachment resolution today.

In a statement, Van Drew said he voted against the resolution because he believes "this inquiry will further divide the country tearing it apart at the seams and will ultimately fail in the Senate."

Van Drew added that now that the impeachment inquiry is "moving forward" he will be "making a judgment call based on all the evidence presented by these investigations."




Read more: https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/impeachment-inquiry-10-31-2019/index.html

[J_William_Ryan]

1. He's right about it failing in the Senate.

[totodeinhere]

12. If the vote were held in the Senate today you would probably be right.

But by the time the vote happens, probably sometime early next year, things may have changed as more and more incriminating evidence emerges.

[still_one]

15. I don't think so toto. For the most part the Senate republicans are going for broke on this, no

matter how damning the evidence is. There is no way I can see that we will get 20 republican votes in the Senate

However, it is what it is, and in the end it will be the court of public opinion that will decide this in 2020. Not whether he is impeached and removed

[Miguelito Loveless]

22. Agreed

Backing Trump, no matter what he does, is the only way the GOP sees they can remain in power and stay out of jail. I imagine in the coming year we will get staff whistleblowers coming out to tell us that Trump agreed to fund raise for senators in exchange for their votes on impeachment.

[lagomorph777]

41. Trump's drug deals with Senators will help flip the Senate blue.

[erronis]

58. Apparently this is already happening - the dump pledging funds to the vulnerables.

[joshdawg]

24. There will not be twenty republican votes in the Senate.....I agree with you.

What will probably happen is that within an hour or two after this is handed over to the Senate for a vote, Moscow mitch will hold a "vote", and with little urging on his part, all fifty-three republican "Senators" will vote Not Guilty. None has a spine or any moral compass. None knows the difference between right and wrong. They are all complicit in the Orange Sphincter's treasonous activities.


Of course, this is only my prediction.

[lagomorph777]

42. They are doing everything possible to save themselves in their primaries...

…and get annihilated in the general election.

[LiberalFighter]

28. They will be going for broke with their vote on the record.

IMO that will be the key.

[totodeinhere]

44. Basically most of those Republican senators are cowards.

As long as they see more danger to their careers they will stick with him. But if public opinion turns enough and they realize that supporting him will cost them at the ballot box, then they will turn against him as a matter of political survival.

[DENVERPOPS]

48. As trump is cornered

As Trump is cornered and has all the attention, the Republican Senators are continuing their under handed and corrupt legislation every single day, going totally un-noticed by everyone.

They will use Trump as a diversion as long as they possible can, diverting our attention from their progress in the shadows.

At the last minute, I suspect they will throw Trump and his spawn under the bus, install Pence (who in some ways is even worse), appoint a new VP. and roll merrily on their way with the same Republican Senators. They will con their followers with "Look, we took care of this jerk, but have a new direction and the people to do it"......All the voters that were not going to vote for Trump will run right back to the Republican Party insuring the trashing of us and the Democratic Party...........The COUP will be completed.
The Rich and the Corporations will have won........We will have a truly Fascist Tyranny.......

[dawg day]

14. I don't know... it's all changed so quickly.

Remember in September, everyone had glumly figured impeachment wouldn't happen.
We should never underestimate Trump's willingness to go on committing crimes. The hearing will bring out all sorts of evidence and shove it in the faces of Americans who haven't really been paying attention.
And probably Trump will get more and more extreme and might do something that frightens the non-cultist GOPers (not sure what that would be, as they've accepted so much).
Or he might do something humiliating that shows clearly that he's lost what few marbles he had.

The GOP and specifically Moscow Mitch might decide he's just not worth the trouble.
I'm not predicting, but I can see it happening. None of them actually like him... the moment they think they have a better electoral chance without him, they'll dump him.

[cstanleytech]

25. Yes he is probably right however that does not mean impeachment should not be pursued when the

evidence clearly shows he did what he is accused of.

[brush]

36. That's ok though. There has never been an impeached president running for re-election.

Not Johnson, Nixon or Clinton and IMO, having the specter of being impeached before the public for months with more and more damning info coming out, does not favor an impeached, orange a-hole running for president.

Forget the repug spew that it will rouse up his base. He hasn't widened his base since he's been in office. All the red-state rallies have been just him preaching to the choir as his approval rating has stayed around 38-42%, not good. It's never even reached 50% and I believe no modern president has been re-elected with an approval rating less than 50%—the most recent examples of one-termers being HW Bush and Carter.

And neither one of them even had the adjective of "impeached" in front of their names.

[Thekaspervote]

2. That's bullshit!!

[empedocles]

3. Nothing surprising there

[Zambero]

4. The subject of this impeachment is tearing the country apart

Not the remedy as prescribed by the U.S. Constitution.

[Brainfodder]

23. That and all the crimes, and the coverups, and pretending he did nothing wrong, and....

[PatSeg]

32. Exactly

Witnessing abuse and corruption in the White House on a daily basis and doing nothing about it will do nothing to unify the country. It could however cost some politicians their jobs.

Its really wimpy to let other people put their careers on the line and then wait and see what materializes. Then they'll probably hope no one will remember their cowardly vote. And they'll probably be wrong.

[sprinkleeninow]

52. Exactly this. eom

[patphil]

5. Trump is already tearing the country apart.

Ignoring Trump's lawlessness just validates his actions.
Sometimes you have to lose a battle to win a war.

[DENVERPOPS]

35. Please, you all keep forgetting

The thing that is tearing this country apart is the REPUBLICAN SENATORS. Go after them in each and every state, and in the media.
Trump would not have been able to last one day in office if it weren't for the Republican Senators............
The Repub Senators have condoned and actually assisted in every move for the past THREE YEARS..........

[patphil]

37. Yes, they are definitely facilitating and supporting Trump's actions.

[DENVERPOPS]

47. If the states

If each state's Democrat residents and media went after the Republican senators 24/7, the Republican Senators would have their own asses to worry about, their hands way too full worrying about their own asses to even think about helping Trump.........

Their own jobs are the most important thing to their selfish little egotistical asses.........

We need to continue going after Trump by all means, but he is merely a symptom of a much bigger cause: The Republican Senators who are every bit as complicit and in fact worse, by continuing to vote to have this hell descend on all of us, and only allowing Trump to be there in order to act as a diversion while they enact their horrific shit on the nation......

[not_the_one]

59. They are co-conspirators in treason

and should be punished accordingly.

[SCVDem]

6. Note that republicans

do not have dissent in their ranks.

Primary these two!

[durablend]

7. Pathetic.

"Thank you sir, another please"

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Colin Peterson. No surprise there.

[Dennis Donovan]

9. Well, he goes to his grave with a single epitaph: "Coward." n/t

[totodeinhere]

10. it was very disheartening to see that not one Republican voted for the resolution.

But hope springs eternal. As more and more damaging evidence emerges I think it will become harder and harder for Republican senators to continue to defend him.

[The Blue Flower]

11. Van Drew: "Facts? We don't need no stinking facts!"

Of course they may come in handy when the rest of the world does the post mortem on our dead democracy.

[BlueIdaho]

13. He voted to keep his job.

Both Congressmen who voted “no” are in Trump friendly districts. They voted to keep their jobs - it’s just that simple.

[durablend]

17. Hey, the country could burn to the ground

"But at least I get to keep muh job"

[Traildogbob]

19. Patriotic

That sounds about right, shit on the constitution you swear an oath too, shit on your moral beliefs, shit on the law, shit on our democracy.....just to keep a pay check coming. All about cash. Give your country to Putin, for cash. Leave babies in cages, for cash, let young immigrant girls be sold for sex camps, for cash, poison our entire planet, for cash, as God would do. He be blessin MurKKKa. We have one big Green Party in MurKKKa, green cash. Gotta keep the cushy job, vote those two assholes to hell.

[BlueIdaho]

27. I didn't say it was right...

I just said it was the most likely reason. It’s the same reason republicans are backing Trumpsky right now. As soon his poll numbers drop to 30% and their jobs are threatened by supporting him - just watch those Trump Humpers suddenly discover their righteous outrage.

[Traildogbob]

39. No no,

I was not attacking you. I was sarcastically attacking ALL politicians that only want the seat and pay. Never run to better the country, just want the seat. We do not need asses that will not fight for us that put them there. Just wanna keep a job, well unemployment is at record lows, and all those wonderful migrant jobs are vacant. They don't have to sell their soul and our country just so they can have a job. If they want to keep a seat, it is more than sitting in it, follow the freaking oath they swear to. Like Repubs, placing a hand on the bible is as believable as tRump laying a tiny hand on it and swearing. Fake God they swear to. My Appoligies to you, not attacking your post at all.

[BlueIdaho]

45. Much appreciated!

Thank you for your kind explanation - I wholeheartedly agree with you.

[Traildogbob]

46. ✌🏼️

We are in the same fight. Not all dems are angels, not all vets are angels, i.e., Tom Cotton, "Tulski" Gabbert, Lindsay Graham just to name a few. I am a Vietnam era vet. Joined....Draft number 324. Not of age to vote. Faught for the right. Repubs, most who never served, taking that right away. Welcoming communism into our country. Supposidly what over 50,000 of my brothers and sisters died for, To stop the spread of communism. Fuck the GOP.

[DENVERPOPS]

49. You got that right on

[Mme. Defarge]

16. C'est la guerre.

[Gothmog]

18. These are the two Democrats who voted 'no' on the impeachment inquiry resolution

Link to tweet

[bucolic_frolic]

20. You're talking to a beautiful girl at the bar on a Saturday night

you'd be stupid not to push that as far as you can. Because you never know.

Offered the chance to cleanse their souls and be rid of their political burden, more than a few Anti-American GOP Senators might just say "yes!".

[Maxheader]

21. DINO ALERT! DINO ALERT!

Ya gonna quit pushing for gun laws that work because its HARD?
Ya gonna quit pushing for envirnmental regs that get something done..
BECAUSE ITS FU CKING HARD!!????

They should be ashamed of themselves..

[durablend]

26. Good gosh man, SOMEONE MIGHT YELL!!!!!!!!!!

Can't have our FEE FEEs hurt can we?

[TruckFump]

29. Pardon me while I choke on the bullshit and...

...puke.



If he wants to be Repuke, then then change parties.

[TheRealNorth]

30. I don't care if it divides the country

Trump is using the power of his office to interfere with the election. If we don't fight tooth and nail now, our Democratic candidates will be coming down with Polonium 210 poisoning next.

[Sloumeau]

31. If Reps. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey and Collin Peterson of Minnesota...

do not vote to send the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate when the time comes, they will be primaried into oblivion, and they will deserve it.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

57. See post #53.

[LeftTurn3623]

33. I hope other Dems run against both of them

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

53. No Dem even slightly to the left of Colin Peterson could get elected in his district.

It’s Trump country. If a more liberal Dem successfully primaried Peterson the GOP candidate would win the general; Peterson sucks but he counts as part of the total Dem majority.

[SharonClark]

60. Who said it had to be a more liberal Democrat?

It could be a conservo-Dem who also happens to support the constitution.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

61. Supporting the Constitution isn't very popular in Trump Country.

Trump is more important than the Constitution in those parts.

[Linda Ed]

34. Country is

already torn apart...what planet is he living on? Colin Peterson MN Primary him out, too

[scardycat]

38. So if the country wants to find out if Trump is breaking the law ( and he is) ....

we just shouldnt cuz it might" further divide the country tearing it apart at the seams" Fuck that, rules are rules do.your.job

[William Seger]

40. Yes, resistance to fascism is tearing the country apart

Apparently Van Drew isn't too concerned about who ends up with the bigger half.

[Nitram]

43. he will be "making a judgment call based on all the evidence presented by these investigations."

Translation: He'll vote for impeachment if enough Republicans change their minds before the vote.

[WestIndianArchie]

50. Idiots

They should both be primaried

[dem4decades]

51. So Van Drew doesn't care to uphold his oath to protect the Constitution? That's all I need to know.

When the brave are asked to stand up, Mr Van Drew, don't bother standing.

[madaboutharry]

54. I don't respect the "it will divide the country" argument.

That is not a reason to allow a criminal to get away with his crimes.

He voted no because he comes from a district that previously had the same republican congressman for 28 years.

I don't believe that his vote was one of principle.

[Kurt V.]

55. this isn't important. at all.

[OAITW r.2.0]

56. Republicans are getting torn apart, Democrats seem pretty unfied.

It's going to get uglier for Republicans as the crimes get laid out for the public. Good luck preotecting Trump (to protect your backsides) Republicans!