Two Trials In the Senate

Playbook: “There were two trials going on this week in the Senate: One was an argument among a couple of Ivy-educated lawyers about who did what in Ukraine, who sent what email, when, why and how. This was important. But there was another trial. That one was about raw power, and the structural incentives that rule modern American politics. That was the trial the Republicans won — and many would argue it’s a temporary and hollow victory.”

“What’s right and wrong is not what rules American politics in the modern era — and it’s especially irrelevant in Congress. The parties are geographically sorted. The Republican Party is nearly entirely homogeneous racially and uniform in its fealty to President Trump. The simple reality is this: With rare exception, you cannot win in today’s Republican Party without complete loyalty to the president.”

“Here’s the truth: Republicans are not comfortable with the president’s behavior. They say it privately, some say it publicly on their way out. But they have no incentive to say this aloud no matter how egregious they believe the president’s behavior to be. To win as a Republican in any seat that’s at all marginal, you need to appeal to Republicans to vote.”