If Democrats focus relentlessly on their impeachment agenda, they ‘ll succeed in one thing only: ensuring GOP victory in the election of 2020. Their highly unlikely “best case” scenario would drive Trump from office, installing Mike Pence in the presidency as a unifying figure, well positioned to win support from all of those exhausted by the poisonous polarization.

But imagine the more likely outcome: Dems push impeachment through the House and force a Senate vote—a vote that Trump is sure to survive since he only needs one third of Senators to stand with him. If the election quickly followed Trump’s triumph over impeachment, he’d gain powerful momentum—with Democrats demoralized and Trumpers fully energized.0

The only way Democrats can get rid of Trump is in the normal way—beating him in a presidential election, while dropping the self-defeating stupidity about impeachment.