This Wednesday when the House of Representatives votes to impeach Donald Trump, two congressmen will buck their respective party’s leadership: one a Democrat, the other a former Republican, now independent. Only one of them, however, is deserving of praise, and, surprisingly enough, it’s not the Democrat, who by the time he casts his vote will likely be a Republican.
Don't be fooled by Jeff Van Drew’s so-called independence. He's nothing more than a self-seeking opportunist. His decision to vote no, first for the inquiry, and now for both articles of impeachment, was a simple calculation on his part to survive what he rightly believes will be a primary challenge from his left. Van Drew was stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand the polling in his district - a district Trump won in 2016 - is against impeachment; on the other, most Democratic voters in the district are very pro impeachment. So rather than do the right thing, he took the easy way out. If this is what constitutes a profile in courage, is it any wonder why most voters despise Washington?
The real profile in courage here is Justin Amash, who as a former Republican - and a conservative one at that - has all but guaranteed his defeat next year by pledging he will vote to impeach Trump. A founding member of the Freedom Caucus, Amash could've just swallowed his pride - not to mention his dignity - and gone along with his conference. But unlike Van Drew, he put country ahead of party and did the right thing.
Amash is by no means the only member of the House who is catching hell for his upcoming vote. In the 2018 midterms, Democrats won 31 seats in districts Trump carried. One of those seats is the Michigan 8th where Elissa Slotkin held a town hall the other day and got an earful from Trump supporters. While many in attendance applauded her for her convictions, there's no denying that Slotkin, like many of her fellow freshmen moderates, will face a tough uphill battle next year.
And while Van Drew may think he's found a life line by switching parties, history shows otherwise. In 2009, long-time Republican senator Arlen Spector, who was facing a touch primary challenge from within his own party, decided to jump ship and become a Democrat. The irony is that Spector ended up losing the Democratic nomination to Joe Sestak, who then went on to lose the general election to Pat Toomey, Spector's original primary challenger. All that work for nothing.
It's one thing to be independent minded and vote your conscious. Who knows, there may be some Democratic members of Congress who have legitimate doubts as to whether what Trump did constitutes an impeachable offense. Jeff Van Drew, however, isn't one of them. To reiterate what I wrote above, he's nothing but a self-seeking opportunist who's just out to save his own miserable hide. Far from being a hero, he should fit right in with the GOP, a party that long ago abandoned its principles to defend the most corrupt president in U.S. history.
Good riddance to him, I say.
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