Political Discourse Regarding Impeachment Has Not Evolved In Two Decades

Liar. Corrupt. Immoral.

Those are some of the terms Democrats in Congress are using to describe President Donald Trump, as they weigh impeaching him.

But those words sound familiar, especially for those who were in D.C. two decades ago.

Kent Syler is a professor of political science at Middle Tennessee State University and a former chief of staff to then-Congressman Bart Gordon, a Democrat.

He said that, based on letters constituents in Tennessee sent to Gordon during the Clinton impeachment inquiry in 1998, not a lot has changed. Those letters and emails are now archived at the Albert Gore Research Center at MTSU.

One reads, “If this country has sunk so low that only a good economy is important, then we are in deep trouble.” Another describes Clinton as “a proven, lying, draft dodger.”

Click the image to see a slideshow of letters received by Congressman Gordon in 1998:

    

Syler says he remembers the strain on staffers as they received those letters and calls from Tennesseans.

“People were taking sides, and some of those calls weren’t pleasant,” Syler says. “You would leave the congressional office at the end of the day, and you would be worn out.”

Twenty-one years later, Syler says the political discourse regarding impeachment hasn’t evolved that much. He says the only thing that has changed is the teams: Now, the Democrats are leading the impeachment calls against Trump, whereas in 1998 it was the Republicans doing it against Clinton.

However, Syler says Democrats can learn about the mistakes made by the GOP.

“Republicans ultimately were judged to have overreached. And, they didn’t win the hearts and minds of everyday Americans,” Syler says.

He believes Democrats need to understand that going for impeachment is taking the ultimate gamble and could backfire.