Republicans have already abandoned the notion that character matters, jettisoned fiscal conservativism and free markets, and accepted lying as simply the price of doing business with this president. They have watched as constitutional norms have been battered and the rule of law bent to partisan advantage.
Time and again, they have convinced themselves that it was all worth it. But the stakes are about to rise dramatically. . . .
Longtime Republican consultant Stuart Stevens notes: “When Republicans are asked in years to come why they opposed impeaching a president who tried to bribe a foreign government for political help with military aid, not sure the ‘I didn’t approve of the subcommittee process’ will be very compelling.”