As Trump impeachment rolls on, accountability will likely be in voters' hands, matthewjdowd writes.
Though Democrats have built a rather clear and convincing case for impeachment, Republicans in Washington and GOP voters around the country appear to remain unmoved. It looks like, as I surmised a month ago, the main outcome of the hearings is that Democrats are increasingly solidified in their desire for impeachment, and Republicans are even more solidly opposed.
What is likely to come next? It appears that the House Judiciary Committee will soon draw up multiple articles of impeachment and pass them out of committee without any Republican support. The articles will then move quickly to the House floor where Democrats also appear to have to the votes to impeach the President and send the matter to the Senate. And because Republicans hold a majority in the Senate , it seems nearly impossible for that to happen.
If there are enough Republicans who want to hold the president accountable, a compromise may be reached. Instead of impeaching the president, we may see a move towards censure, which signals disapproval but does not involve the process of trying and potentially removing Trump from office. Still, we have no formal indications this is happening.
My guess is that regardless of the outcome of this impeachment effort, to settle our divisions and the direction of our country, it is going to take the 2020 elections before we move to a more unified and enlightened place. It will be up to the voters to finally hold our leaders accountable and not lawmakers. While that may not be satisfying to some, it does seem an integral part of American history.
Matthew Dowd is an ABC News analyst and special correspondent. Opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of ABC News.
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