The political future of Donald J. Trump has, at the least, moved into questionable territory with recent revelations -- some confirmed by the president himself -- about White House interactions with Ukraine and a push for this foreign government to investigate a domestic political foe of the president.
Gauging by my own conversations and exchanges on social media, people whose political philosophies run to the left of center are convinced Trump should be removed from office immediately. Many of them were just as convinced on Jan. 20, 2017, as soon as Trump took the oath of office. For them, practically everything Trump has done while in office has simply thrown very flammable fuel on an already intense blaze.
On the flip side, as reflected in several recent letters to the editor to this newspaper, are the folks who supported Trump and have dug in their heels, incredulous to the suggestion the president has done something impeachable. They might not defend Trump's style, necessarily, but they remain convinced he's all that stands between a strong, influential United States and a soft, weakened nation.
One group intensely dislikes those who love this president. The other intensely dislikes those who can't stand this president. I won't say they hate each other, because I think that's a strong word reserved for the very worst of human relations. But, goodness, we are a deeply divided nation and there's little to suggest anything about our national politics will deliver more unity as Americans.
I've visited with folks who haven't cared for this president from the beginning. They talk in terms that reflect their conviction that the recent revelations about President Trump are compelling enough that any and all Americans should view him as unfit for office.
In terms of Trump's political life, though, I'm more interested in whether people who backed Trump have seen anything in his conduct of the office to make their vote for Trump an impossibility in 2020. The truth is likely a majority of Arkansas voters in November 2020, if Trump is the Republican nominee, will not have been convinced to trade him for a Democrat.
But Arkansas' electoral votes won't carry the presidency anyway. I'm an Arkansan through and through and love knowing how my fellow Arkansans stand on issues, but just as 2016 was decided in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, the 2020 presidential election will be determined in a few battleground states that aren't named Arkansas.
Democrats' chances of a victory really don't rely on who members of that party believe in. Rather, they depend on whether Democrats pick someone people in the political middle, or even middle-right, can believe in. For the life of me, I can't see that person among the 300 Democrats now running. OK, it might be less than that, but it seems like 300.
And, perhaps lost in the minds of many folks champing at the bit to remove President Trump, is that removing him from office doesn't suddenly make a Democrat a shoo-in next November. It means Mike Pence gets a promotion and a chance to put someone in the vice presidency who could make Pence 2020 a stronger draw.
Out from under Trump's shadow, Pence might actually become a president more likely to lead respectably and more capable of building bridges in Congress and internationally than President Trump ever will be able to, now that the world has seen what four more years of Trump will look like.
Mike Pence would never be Trump II. Democrats no doubt cringe at the idea, but given what we know of Trump's temperament and behaviors, a Pence presidency would at least be a move toward some sanity in our national governance, if people still care about such things.
Commentary on 10/27/2019