OPINION:
The Democratic Party’s own recent internal polling shows that likely voters are by and large sick and tired of the impeach, impeach, impeach-at-all-costs talk and would rather hear about issues and what their legislative leaders are doing on, say, health care.
The fact that Democrats need a poll shows just how blinded by partisanship and self-interest their party has become.
The poll was conducted on behalf of a request from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. And it also showed, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, that voters in dozens of battleground districts — many of whom voted for President Donald Trump in 2016 — want their House representatives to start working cooperatively with members of the opposite party. Particularly on issues where cooperative common grounds can be found.
Hmm.
Seems a no-brainer.
“Health-care costs are still the top priority for voters and are still the focus of Democrats’ best positive message opportunity,” The Inquirer wrote, citing a private presentation given to House Democrats about the survey commissioned by the DCCC.
When’s the last time we saw headlines touting Democrats’ new plan to lower health care premiums and copays and deductibles, in this post-Obamacare era of sky-high insurance costs?
Right.
Well, there you go. There you have it. The silence screams volumes.
Putting aside impeachment and focusing on soaring health care costs would mean putting Americans first; politics — personal, political aspirations and agendas — second. And that right there is the Democrats’ biggest blind spot.
They’re all racing to hold the reins of power. They’re all too busy climbing the steps of their political careers to remember the ones who set out the ladder for them in the first place — the voting citizens.
To be fair, yes, Republicans have their power-hungry as well. The political class has been mired in elitism and special rights for far too long. That’s an issue that needs addressing, too.
To be fair, once again, yes, plenty of other polling has shown the impeachment message is working for the Democrats — that if they just band together and stick tight to the platform of taking down Trump, their party will be the hands-down winner of the White House in 2020, as well as the voice of majority in both houses of Congress. Most of those findings and conclusions, however, are being driven by an anti-Trump obsession that’s taken over much of the minds in the mainstream media.
Even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has cautioned her members that impeaching without an impeachable offense — one that could clear the Senate hurdle called Republican Majority — is a futile maneuver.
But cut through all the polling clutter and here’s the thing: Isn’t public service supposed to be about, well, service to the public? Even for those politicians serving in the Democratic Party?
The fact is impeachment talk doesn’t really serve anybody but the Democrats.
It’s certainly not good for the country.
Particularly when the object of the hoped-for impeachment, Trump, hasn’t even been found guilty of any sort of crime, never mind an impeachable offense.
The fact that Democrats can’t come to this conclusion on their own speaks oodles to the rabid anti-Trump hatred that’s become the political compass for the left.
Democrats, scrambling for a message to win the White House and take over the Senate, could go inspirational and motivational. They could go problem-solver and offer real solutions to what ails most voters across all political aisles — with a biggie being health care costs. They could tone down the punches and reach out to the independent-minded and undecideds and just plain outright disillusioned with platforms that sing of American ideals — not special-interest foolishness.
But they’re choosing instead the impeachment card.
It’s their blind spot.
It’ll be their party’s downfall, come 2020.
And they’ll have nobody to blame but themselves.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.