A hundred senators have cast judgment on President Donald Trump, but the saga of his impeachment will only be put to rest when the ultimate jury — 150 million American voters — delivers a final verdict in November.
Trump is sure to claim complete absolution and possibly to seek retribution when he gives his first public comments on his acquittal of high crimes and misdemeanours by the Senate at the White House on Thursday.
Given the scandal and controversy constantly whirling around the President, the details of his pressure campaign on Ukraine — never really refuted by his impeachment trial defence team — may be long forgotten by November.
But the underlying cause of impeachment may be the most crucial issue on the ballot: The President’s determination to wield sweeping, unrestrained power and his refusal to accept the checks and balances invested in Congress.
The political aftershocks from the four-month impeachment showdown will shape the destiny of the presidency, influence races involving vulnerable Democratic and Republican senators in swing states and play into the Democrats’ fight to hold onto the House of Representatives.
Trump emerges from impeachment politically strengthened — in the short term. He has proven once and for all his extraordinary hold on his own party. Only Utah Sen. Mitt Romney — who has an independent power base and maybe looking to his own place in history — defected and voted to convict the President of impeachable crimes. Ten months from the election, Trump has unified his party around him in Washington and in the heartland, at a time when questions are mounting about the Democrats’ willingness to unite after what could become a bruising primary race.
Trump is enjoying the best polling of his presidency — he hit 49% in a Gallup presidential approval poll this week. His State of the Union address on Tuesday night was a ringing statement of intent that he will use every device of his office to ensure he wins a second term.
