Gaming impeachment

There’s nothing like writing about this topic to stir up sentiment but let me assure you that’s not what this is about. This will be a dispassionate analysis of the impeachment drama playing out in Washington. Instead of beginning with a premise of guilt or innocence and definitely NOT picking sides, I want to evaluate the hands each side holds in a political poker game of the highest import. My aim 2020is to evaluate strategies and tactics of each side and try to literally game out the possible moves much like reviewing the transcript of a chess game. I’ll then draw some conclusions about each side’s approach.

We know the basics.

· One side wants to conduct an investigation, but the other side won’t give up any information to work with.

· One side is trying to change the subject and run out the clock, the other isn’t budging.

· One side can drive a lot of news coverage away from the topic while the other can also manage the news cycle to its ends.

· Each side has a solid base of support.

At any one point one side is up and the other down in the polls and vice versa. There’s also an election coming which leaves less time on the clock than you might think. So perhaps trying to run out the clock is a good strategy but maybe not.

If I were Trump

Trump holds a lot of significant cards in this poker duel. He sets the agenda, he holds, through the Justice Department, much evidence. He also…