We learned this past week that Speaker Pelosi and most Democrats were so outraged about President Trump’s Ukraine phone call that they decided to start impeachment — more inquiry, that is! We are still waiting for a House vote and may never get that.
So what is this fury for impeachment all about? Is it really about the Ukraine phone call, or is it about something else? Is someone trying to take out former V.P. Biden by targeting President Trump?
My guess is that there is another reason. Let’s call it “Joe Crowley Syndrome” since everybody is calling everything a syndrome these days.
As Dick Morris explained, the House Democrats are not afraid of a Republican backlash in 2020. Instead, they are scared to death of a leftist backlash:
Their actions are not the considered opinions of responsible lawmakers.
They are the desperate attempts of incumbent congressmen to avoid losing primary battles against pro-impeachment insurgents.
The ghost of Joe Crowley, defeated for re-election by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, prowls the Democratic House cloakrooms and haunts its members.
They are pushing impeachment — on whatever grounds they can find — to avoid and win primary fights.
It makes sense to me. The new rallying cry is “don’t Crowley me,” a reference to the shocking primary loss of 2018.
The “Crowley” syndrome may also explain the timing of all of this. In other words, most primaries will be next spring. This is the time to discourage challengers by demonstrating that you hate Trump as much as they do.
We will never see an up-or-down vote on impeachment, or not in the near future. My guess is that congressmen will hear from their constituents over the next few weeks that there’s no appetite for impeachment.
Again, Democrats like Representative Nadler are not afraid of losing to a GOP challenger in 2020. They are scared to death of the next AOC walking around their districts.
