Could NOT prosecuting Trump be a smart move for Democrats?

[Sempiternity]

This article may have swayed me on the idea of not prosecuting Trump.

Sounds unthinkable I know. But this article actually makes a good case for why letting him go could be the smart move to make.

By letting him go, and allowing him to continue to run for office, Trump would most definitely start his own political party.

One of Trump's most defining characteristics is he will turn on you if you ever show disloyalty. So of course Trump would gleefully throw the Republicans under the bus if they dare go against him in the coming Impeachment trial. He has already been turning his base against the GOP for months. 

The current path of moving to impeach Trump is looking possible, as the Democrats looking likely to get enough Republicans vote to impeach.

This is in the Republicans best interest. Because Trump, once convicted, would never be able to run for office again. The GOP could finally move on from Trump, and regain control over their party, and resume taking back control from the Democrats in the coming years.

This path leads to years to decades more of power struggles with the Republicans. And the Republicans using every dirty trick they can to wrestle back control.

This path leads to us wasting decades fighting each other, while ignoring the social issues, economic crisis, the global threats, that could lead to our extinction.  

But, the smarter move could be for the Democrats to fold on the coming prosecution of Trump, not allowing Impeachment to continue.

This would lead to Trump starting his rival political party, the 'Patriot Party', to try and regain the power of 70,000,000 adoring devoted followers. 

This would destroy the GOP. As they could lose the majority of their voters. 

Because of the split, some Republican voters would side with the GOP, and others would stay with Trump's party, it could split both their potential voter bases in half. 

Which would mean neither of party would be large enough to get near majority in a general election. Rendering both parties nowhere near a threat to the Democrats.

The Democrats would be virtually running things unopposed. They'd be able to pass any bill they'd want. With no major opposition to block it, things like health care reform, police reform, gun reform, climate control, creating a thriving economy, getting money out of politics, and civil rights, could all get easily passed and put into action. To the benefit of us all. 

Downside to this would be letting trump and his radical base to continue. And who knows how much damage they could continue to do, if not opposed. 

But, could the pros outweigh the cons, in what going with this idea could accomplish, not just for America, but for the world? 

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CNN: "Moments before Donald Trump boarded Air Force One for the final time, he offered this cryptic message to his supporters: "We will be back in some form".
Which, undoubtedly, struck fear in the hearts of Republicans (See: "McConnell, Mitch"), who has spent the last few days and weeks trying to ensure that Trump never, ever comes back. 

Trump, according to The Wall Street Journal, is considering the possibility of starting a new party, which he is calling the "Patriot Party."

If Trump is serious about starting a party to rival the GOP (and Democrats), it would be an utter disaster for Republicans.

Trump has a large base of supporters, some of whom were not deeply involved in Republican politics prior to Mr. Trump's 2016 campaign.

If Trump urges all of those supporters to flock to a more Trumpian party than he believes the Republican Party is positioned to be, it immediately splits the traditional GOP vote into two factions. And neither of those factions is large enough to be a majority in a general election.

A Trump-backed splintering of the Republican base --  or, even worse, an open war between the Trump party and the GOP -- could cripple the chances of conservatives regaining power in Washington not for months, but for years."

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/20/politics/donald-trump-destroy-gop-patriot-party/index.html
 

Edited January 21, 2021 by Sempiternity

[Talinn]

In this case you are outsourcing the country's decision making to Donald Trump again. What happens if we don't convict and he doesn't want to create this political party?

 

The chances of Donald Trump being succesful in the creation of his own party doesn't seem that high to me.

And even if we were to lay this trap so to speak, I still feel it would be a bad idea. After so much walking in slime from Trump & friends it's time to put meaning back into the rule of law. The bandaid needs to be ripped off and he should be impeached and convicted.

[Sempiternity]

13 hours ago, Talinn said:

In this case you are outsourcing the country's decision making to Donald Trump again. What happens if we don't convict and he doesn't want to create this political party?

Good point, that would be a risk and would be a backfire to this plan.

13 hours ago, Talinn said:

The chances of Donald Trump being succesful in the creation of his own party doesn't seem that high to me.

IDK, he was successful at winning the presidency, and holding onto despite his hundreds of blatant crimes. All he'd have to do is court back his base, which would probably be pretty easy as they consider him their savior sent from God.

13 hours ago, Talinn said:

And even if we were to lay this trap so to speak, I still feel it would be a bad idea. After so much walking in slime from Trump & friends it's time to put meaning back into the rule of law. The bandaid needs to be ripped off and he should be impeached and convicted.

Of course I agree that there should be accountability and repercussions for all their crimes. But the hypnosis here is, is this plan would cripple the Republican party and remove them as an obstacle to America moving forward. What is one man's justice worth to never having a bill blocked by the Republicans. Again, things like health care reform, police reform, gun reform, climate control, creating a thriving economy, getting everyone a living wage, getting money out of politics, and civil rights for everyone, could all get easily passed with the GOP out of the way. So is one man's justice, worth all those possible outcomes? I'm not so sure. 

[Preety_India]

I'm thinking what happens if he leaves the country.. 

[Sempiternity]

I'd love to hear some more opinions on this topic.  

[DocWatts]

Basically this is advocating for an abandonment (in this instance) of the larger principle of accountability for people who commit crimes while in High Office, in exchange for a tactical political advantage. 

I'm not sure I like this at all. It sets a terrible precedent if people who hold high office can commit flagrant crimes, up to and including insurrection, and not face any consequences for it. 

And even if you're right and Trump running again would fracture and cripple the GOP, the emergence of a large crypto-fascist third party could come with unexpected consequences. Off the top of my head it could lead to an even larger increase in radicalization and political violence. It could lead to this potential 'Patriot Party' to wash thier hands of electoral politics once they realize that they have no chance of winning elections, and increasingly resort to terrorism as a means to effect political change. The two political parties have at least some moderating influence on these people, who's to say what might happen when that last constraint is removed.

[Sempiternity]

@DocWatts 

All great points. 

I guess the better move, which it seems like is the current plan for the Democrats, is to punish all involved, crush all domestic terrorist/white supremacy groups, punish the Republicans who broke laws, and let them tear themselves apart, as they further lose standing in the public's eyes, ensuring they lose less and less power and votes. I'm sure even without the plan stated above, the Republicans are still pretty much done for, after supporting Trump all this time. Their brand is forever tarnished. 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Sempiternity