EDITORIAL: Impeachment chorus driven by radical Democrats

Listening to the Resistance foot soldiers at MSNBC, a viewer might conclude that the vast majority of House Democrats have stocked up on pitchforks and torches in preparation for the inevitable impeachment of President Donald Trump.

That’s why it’s worth noting a recent CNN report on the president and his antagonists in the House. According the network — no friend of Mr. Trump, to be sure — only 59 of the 235 Democrats in the lower chamber publicly support the opening of impeachment proceedings. Throw in Rep. Justin Amish, the lone Republican who has backed impeachment, and the number inches up to 60 — out of 435.

That’s closer to a handcar than a locomotive, particularly when impeachment would carry tremendous risks for the dozens of House Democrats who aren’t election proof in gerrymandered leftist districts on the coasts. And never mind that — absent some evidentiary bombshell — a conviction is a pipe dream in the Senate.

A Wednesday Wall Street Journal report confirms the tepid enthusiasm for embarking upon such an extreme and divisive exercise. Despite “the attention being paid to a handful of impeachment supporters primarily from safe blue seats,” the paper reported, “nearly 80 percent of House Democrats don’t support launching an impeachment inquiry now.” That’s because their constituents have plenty of other concerns.

“I don’t hear about it,” Rep. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, told the Journal. “When it comes down to the list of top issues that people here in the district are worried about, it doesn’t hit the top.”

That sentiment mirrored the findings in an April New York Times piece, “House Democrats feel little pressure from voters to impeach Trump.” As they return to their districts, rank-and-file Democrats are finding that the anti-Trump mania gripping Beltway insiders hasn’t translated into a frenzy for impeachment among the voters back home.

That’s not surprising. It may be news to many entrenched D.C. interests, but for the vast majority of Americans, politics is little more than background noise — if that — as they seek to navigate day-to-day concerns far removed from the intricacies of Washington.

Of course, it’s possible that many Democrats who have declined publicly to endorse impeachment may in fact favor such an inquiry but are playing it coy. At this point, though, members of a loud liberal minority — safely ensconced in deep blue districts — are garnering disproportionate attention from an enabling mainstream media.

Out on the hustings, however, the progressive impeachment chorus falls on deaf ears. It looks as if Nancy Pelosi knows what she’s doing.