While the public remains largely divided over removing President Trump from office based on his dealings with Ukrainian officials, tonight’s Democratic primary debate offers a chance for the media to rise above recent partisan impeachment battles and instead provide Americans with a balanced perspective on how Democrats want to address many of the issues facing our country. MSNBC and the Washington Post, which will host the debate in Atlanta, have a choice: focus on issues or obsess over impeachment.
There is absolutely no need to ask candidates about the impeachment proceedings tonight. Almost all of the qualifying candidates have expressed some level of support for the current impeachment proceedings into Trump, as has Tom Perez in his capacity as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. We already know that Democrats support impeaching Trump. There’s no need to spend valuable time going on about it.
Tonight’s debate is also significant because it presents voters with a ballot of candidates that has been significantly whittled down from the initial field of more than 20 contenders. Candidates such as Sens. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker could have a chance to make a last-minute surge in the polls by further outlining their policies: What unique platform do they have to offer? Meanwhile, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have yet another chance to present their far-left populist ideas to voters.
While it is too early to tell whether or not conducting the impeachment proceedings will hurt the Democrats’ chances of retaking the White House in 2020, supporters of the impeachment proceedings should still be wary of the potential consequences that could arise from hyperpoliticizing the impeachment process by making it one of the primary issues in the 2020 election. Without a fair and transparent inquiry into the president, Democrats run the risk of alienating moderate, undecided voters who see the process as nothing more than a political charade.
The average American remains affected by many of the issues facing voters today, including taxes, healthcare, student loans, and immigration. Moderators should let tonight’s two-hour debate be a return to the issues that are actually affecting American voters, rather than an extension of the partisan vitriol that has languished before the House of Representatives this past week concerning impeachment. If the liberal media instead make the debate all about Trump and impeachment, they’ll have no right to complain when Americans tune out.
John Patrick (@john_pat_rick) is a graduate of Canisius College and Georgia Southern University. He interned for Red Alert Politics during the summer of 2012 and contributes to the Washington Examiner regularly.
