Good thing they were taking this so seriously.
No matter how much contempt you have for Senate members, it’s never enough. And as this farce wraps up, it’s important to remember what the real priority was.
During the Senate break after the witness vote Saturday, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) twice came into the managers’ room off the Senate floor, according to multiple Democratic sources. Coons pressed House Democrats to relent, saying their quest for witnesses would cost them Republican votes to convict and maybe even some Democrats.
Democrat votes? Why Democrat votes? Oh. They want to go home. And they’ll vote against anyone keeping them there.
“The jury is ready to vote,” Coons told the managers, according to a senior House Democratic aide. “People want to get home for Valentine‘s Day.”
Coons later returned a second time to urge the managers to take a deal with Trump’s lawyers to enter what House Democrats viewed as damning evidence from Herrera Beutler into the record. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) also approached a House manager in the hallway to urge them against calling witnesses, according to sources close to the managers.
Hey, the guy wants to go home for Valentine’s Day.
A Coons spokesperson said that the senator “was simply conveying to the House managers that several of his Republican colleagues told him there were no more votes on their side and their members were ready to fly home.
Much as some may want to picture these guys drinking the blood of children or whatever they’re supposed to be doing, mostly they don’t care and they’re engaged in performative theater for fundraising purposes. It’s hard to overstate how much the politicians on both sides really don’t care once the cameras are off.
They care about issues because
A. They’re being paid to care by major donors
B. They can fundraise off them
And then they just want to go back to the vacation homes, mistresses, private jets, and whatever else they bought with the direct or indirect proceeds of their office.
Had Democrats chosen to go the other way, the trial could have been put on ice for two weeks, Cardin said.
“There’s just a lot to be done,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.). He added that Democrats want to ensure “everyone’s heard, that we get all their information and evidence,” but also want to “do it efficiently.”
The show is okay. It got them what they wanted. But they’ve got plans, you know. They’ve gotta get home.
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