Dem senators in 2020 race face lengthy down time for impeachment

Senate Democrats running for their party's nomination for president are facing a lengthy down time from their campaigns.

Others, including Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, will be on the trail shaking hands every day.

It's because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, after three weeks of trying to extract favorable terms, said she will take steps next week to send impeachment articles to the Senate.

The trial is expected to result in an acquittal for the president since the GOP holds the majority and impeachment requires a supermajority vote of two-thirds.

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An analysis by The Hill said the submission of the articles "almost certainly guarantees that the five Democratic senators still running for their party’s presidential nomination will remain in Washington in the weeks leading up to the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3, depriving them of critical facetime with voters."

"Palpable effects" are expected for Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the report said.

"By taking Sanders and Warren off the campaign trail for what will likely be weeks, the impeachment trial could lend an advantage to their top rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who are polling at or near the top of the pack in Iowa," the report said.

Three other senators, Cory Booker, Michael Bennet and Amy Klobuchar, need strong performances in Iowa, and the Senate trial will be viewed as "an unwelcome obstacle."

Klobuchar already has said she will need help from "everyone on the ground in Iowa" to mitigate her absence.

A trial could start as early as Wednesday.

"It's unclear just how long the impeachment trial will last. But there's little doubt that it will mean spending critical time off the campaign trail, especially in the leadup to the Iowa caucuses, the first nominating contest of 2020 and one of the most crucial in the primary calendar. No Democrat since former President Bill Clinton has won their party's nomination without taking the top spot in the Iowa caucuses," the report said.

The Hill said: "The impeachment proceedings began with accusations that Trump had sought to pressure Ukrainian officials to launch an investigation into Biden and his son Hunter. And Republicans have repeatedly accused the former vice president of working to oust a Ukrainian prosecutor who had investigated an energy company that employed his son."