This archive report was first published on 14 December 2019.
Clinton’s Impeachment Was Nail-Biter. Trump’s Grip on G.O.P. Means His Won’t Be. ¶
December 14, 2019
WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998, a decision that felt like the ultimate drama at the time. But 21 years later, the committee has approved articles of impeachment against President Trump, a move that feels like one more chapter in an all-out clash.
Back in 1998, the impeachment battle felt like a nail-biter, with the outcome uncertain until the very end. But this time, the outcome seems almost foreordained, with the parties more homogeneous and the divisions starker. The Clinton impeachment was a moment of constitutional déjà vu, with each party switching sides and the arguments articulated in almost the same words.
Yet, despite the similarities, there are significant differences between the two impeachments. The Clinton impeachment was a moment of intense drama, with the president's foes using the internet to pump out conspiracy theories and salacious gossip. But today's impeachment battle occurs in a news and social media environment that rewards the loudest, angriest voices and has separated Americans into their own information silos.
Representative Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California and one of the five members of the Judiciary Committee still on the panel from 1998, said, “There were divisions back then as well, but the big difference is the lack of a common agreement on reality.”
The Clinton impeachment was a moment of ugly politics, with the president's foes using the internet to expose his personal life and pump out conspiracy theories. But today's impeachment battle is even more divisive, with the parties more homogeneous and the divisions starker. The Trump impeachment is a moment of constitutional déjà vu, with each party switching sides and the arguments articulated in almost the same words.
Some worry that impeachment will now become just one more political weapon. “Whenever one has the president of one party now and the House of the other party I think we’re going to see this more often,” said Representative Steve Chabot, a Republican from Ohio and another of the 1998 survivors still on the Judiciary Committee.
But the charges against Trump are not just about the man, but about the system. The articles against him allege no statutory crime, but they go to the heart of a president’s use of the power granted him by the people. And the case comes in the context of a president who has defied so many norms that governed other presidents.
Both presidents enjoyed strong economies that bolstered them in the face of impeachment, but Clinton was far more popular throughout his struggle to stay in office, with approval ratings over 60 percent and peaking at 73 percent in the days after the House voted to impeach him. Trump's approval ratings, on the other hand, remain around 44 percent in an average of polls by the website Real Clear Politics.
