GOP predicting bipartisan acquittal as Pelosi stonewalls

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on the Senate floor Oct. 4, 2018.

Few observers realistically believe that President Trump would be convicted in a Senate trial on the Democrats' claims of obstruction and abuse of power simply because of the numbers.

After all, nearly 20 GOP senators would have to turn their backs on their own party's president to reach the 67-vote threshold for conviction and removal.

Which isn't likely.

But now members of the GOP are openly wondering whether the acquittal might have bipartisan support.

The Hill said on Thursday the party's members are "becoming increasingly confident they'll be able to hand President Trump a bipartisan acquittal in his Senate impeachment trial."

The Hill explained, "GOP senators are broadening their sights as they plot their strategy. Senate Republicans think they'll be able to pick up one or two Democrats on the final votes for each impeachment article. That would let them tout Trump's acquittal as bipartisan – an angle they've already seized on when talking about the two House votes, in which a handful of Democrats crossed the aisle to join Republicans in opposing impeachment."

One of the comments was from Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., who declined to identify those he thinks may flip because he didn't want to pressure them.

"I really think we have people on both sides that are trying to get to a reasonable, nonpartisan answer," he said.

The Hill also noted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has predicted there will be Democrats who stand up to their party's years-long impeach-the-president campaign that already has seen claims of collusion, obstruction, bribery and many more.

Another with similar conclusions was Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who believes there are "a couple" of Democrats considering an acquittal for the president.

Two senators considered possibilities for switching sides include Sens. Joe Manchin, West Virginia, and Doug Jones, Alabama.

The Hill said Manchin once was considered for a Cabinet position in the Trump administration and comes from a deeply red state where Trump won in 2016 by roughly 42 percentage points.

"Jones, meanwhile, is viewed as the most vulnerable Democrat up for reelection next year as he tries to win a full term in Alabama, where Trump won in 2016 by nearly 28 points. Jones won his Senate seat in a December 2017 special election, where he ran against GOP nominee Roy Moore, the former Alabama chief justice."

In the House, the only bipartisan votes so far have been against impeachment.

At the Gateway Pundit, a commentary said, "Speaker Pelosi knows impeachment is DOA in the Senate so she is holding onto the articles of impeachment unless the Senate bows to her demands."