Despite senators getting into a bit of tizzy about House Impeachment Manager Adam Schiff's comment about having their heads put on a spike (figuratively) by this president if they stand up to him, it's still surprising that as NBC's Kristen Welker explained, there aren't 4 votes at this time from the Republican side of the aisle to call witnesses in the impeachment trial.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle are quite attuned to the stances that keep them in the good graces of their constituents at home but at the moment it is most evident that Senate Republicans are trying to figure out how to best save their political skins.
Republican senators such as Mitt Romney (UT), Susan Collins (ME) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) are all sending mixed messages so as to avoid any direct heat one way or the other because at least 70 percent of the American people according to polling want to see witnesses called by Senators. The aforementioned Senators and others are concerned with the polls, though it's quite clear that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not. Mr. McConnell has never been one to care about the American people's opinion writ large and this time will be no different.
Why haven't any senators come forward, Romney tepidly, to call for witnesses. As the Cook Political Report's Amy Walter explained, there is no upside for moderate Republicans. It's a lose-lose for someone like Susan Collins in Maine. If Senator Collins softens on witnesses, she upset her base and Democrats in her state will say, 'good for you,' but still won't vote her. Ms. Collins only has a principled stand, in which to make a statement. However, what we've seen in the past, she'll twist those principles for political survivor. The same case can be made for Senator Corey Gardner (R) in Colorado and Joni Ernst in Iowa. There's no motivation to alienate the base if you're not going to pull moderates or Democrats over.
Even if there were 4 votes in favor of calling witnesses, a fair trial is simply not going to happen if Mr. McConnell has anything to say about it, and he does; he sets all the rules - from length of testimony to how many to what time they testify to admissible evidence, all of it.
Adam Schiff once again made his case today on having a fair trial and the American people knowing the whole truth, which includes calling witnesses and handing over documents. Neither have been forthcoming from the administration throughout the process. But no matter what, fairness will remain elusive in the midst of continuing complains because the outcome has already been decided.
Mr. Schiff reminded us that the president's counsel has not made the argument against the facts of what Mr. Trump did and orchestrated, but the process by which the House arrived to the point. He also made the case for removal on the factual basis that this isn't the first time the president has welcomed foreign interference in the election and will be free to continue this behavior.
This brings us to Senator Mike Braun (R-IN) who said that he thinks that the president will learn from this episode and not repeat this kind of behavior. Me thinks Mr. Braun a bit naive. He did sound quite reasonable in explaining this and for anyone else living in the normal world, it would be a teaching moment, but we're talking about Donald Trump, for whom the rules do not apply apparently. Mr. Braun said that a Senator's view about calling witnesses is very much dependent on constituents' views, which means that he'll be looking at the polls in his state, but safe to say that it would be to everyone's astonishment if Mr. Braun voted for them.
However, as Senator and candidate for president Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said, we may be surprised about who and how many will vote to call witnesses. A strong candidate with weak poll numbers, but let's hope springs eternal for improvement for both.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Amy Walter, Cook Political Report; Lanhee Chen, Fellow at the Hoover Institute, Stanford University; Mark Leibovich, The New York Times Magazine
One more thing...
Chuck Todd mentioned the Lev Parnas recording of the president saying get rid of her [then Ukraine Ambassador Maria Yovanovitch) to which he asked if it would be better to get all this out in the open by calling witnesses, instead of finding all this out later. It's all about the short game for Republicans as Mr. Leibovich mentioned and also said that acquittal for the president may not be as great as everyone on his side would think. He didn't elaborate but after the president is acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate, drips and draps of information are going to be hitting throughout election season right up until the end in November.
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