A Nashville veteran in political strategy says that for a party to win the public debate on President Donald Trump’s impeachment, the party will need to stick together.
The impeachment hearings have the potential of turning into a shouting match and a festival of political pandering, that’s according to Linda Peek Schacht, a former aide to President Jimmy Carter and U.S. Senate Democrats.
She pointed to the confirmation hearings of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, as an example of what not to do.
“Nobody came out looking good in that and the American people were just fed up,” Schacht told WPLN Tuesday. “Part of that model was chaos versus clarity.”
Schacht, who now teaches at Lipscomb University, said that both parties should focus instead in getting to the bottom of the facts – or at least, stick to talking points if they want to be successful.
But there are some challenges, especially for the Democrats who are bringing witnesses who have claimed Trump violated the oath of office.
“The real question is, does anybody care? Does anybody care?” Schacht said. “Can the Democrats show that it matters?”
That’s a question hard to answer.
Mostly because the latest polls show only about 1 in 4 Americans are undecided on whether Trump should be impeached.
Meanwhile, Schacht said she expects the members of the U.S. Senate to be paying attention to the hearings. She said this is their time to start testing some messaging regarding the debate.