Nancy Pelosi tells reporters she feels “very sad” about today’s impeachment vote and she’s wearing black to mark the occasion. She has reportedly told her caucus not to cheer when the impeachment vote is complete.
It’s a free country, and Democrats can feel whatever they want to feel during and after today’s impeachment vote. But how many Americans out there care about how House Democrats feel about impeaching the president?
Do you think there’s a single opponent of impeachment out there who will note, “well, at least they felt bad about it”? Is there a single proponent of impeachment out there who would feel differently about the decision if the Democrats seemed too happy about this vote? Voters don’t care how an elected official feels about the votes they make — at least, not compared to the votes themselves. Votes are binary. You either vote to impeach or don’t (or “present,” I suppose). There is no asterisk put next to a vote that denotes hesitation, mixed feelings, regret, or any other mitigating aspect.
And we know that not all Democrats are feeling so somber. There wasn’t much sadness in Radshida Tlaib’s voice in January when she pledged to “impeach the mother*****!” And the crowd around her didn’t seem to see it as a necessary tragedy, either; they roared their approval with gleeful enthusiasm.