What if no evidence of Russian collusion with Trump can be found?
The investigation into alleged collusion between President Donald Trump and/or his campaign aides has been going on for about 18 months now, and so far, no evidence has been actually verified. Even some Democrats, whose fondest desires were to find some tiniest thread connecting the GOP to the Russians are beginning to realize it’s not likely going to happen.
That doesn’t stop many on the extreme left, who make no effort to disguise their hatred for the man, from soldiering on, however. Still, soon some of the mainstream press may start to fathom that the American public, at least those with slightly open minds on the subject, have already conceded the issue is the proverbial “nothing-burger.”
So where does that leave the Trump-haters who have been promising the bombshell announcement for the last year and a half? In their own minds, and unfortunately the minds of many of their supporters, the investigation will never end, sort of like the Benghazi investigations on the minds of the Hillary-haters. Just because you can’t point to the evidence doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Funny how that logic becomes irrational when it is applied to faith in a heavenly power, but that is a subject for another article.
But what does the public think? Of course, there are the extremes, but what about the middle-of-the-roaders, who are tired of accusations without evidence and promises without proofs? Are they beginning to believe Trump when he calls the investigation a “Witch Hunt?”
Anecdotal evidence says yes, but it will only be quantified by the 2020 elections, assuming Trump runs for re-election. Even then, that may not be the defining issue. Major gains in the economy, greater respect for America as a world leader, and other Trumpian accomplishments may override everyday America’s concerns for Russian bots on Facebook and social media.
Americans who are worried about their own future, with regard to jobs, rising wages, and lower taxes, may not share the same worries about the things that keep politicians awake at night. Things like party unity and fund-raising support may not be as high on the priority list of single parents and low-wage earners.
So far, the Democrats are hanging their 2020 platform on one plank, that being “We’re not Donald Trump,” but they are failing to realize that was what cost them the 2016 election, when Hillary ran with the same platform. If it turns out that no hard evidence that Trump colluded with Russians or anyone else to rig the election can be uncovered, that he won the election fairly, and his Presidency has been quite successful, that plank seems to be pretty weak.
And more and more, it seems that it was the Democrats and their supporters in the Obama Administration that actually sought to undermine the election, and subsequently Trump’s administration. As more heads roll for that, the voters may start to see Trump as the victim instead of the conspirator.
None of that plays well in Peoria, or any other part of middle-America, and may not play well for the Democratic Party in the voting booth in 2020.
Despite Ms. Clinton’s ever-exhausting explanation of why deplorable voters pushed Trump to victory in 2016, a large number of Americans voted for Trump simply because he wasn’t a career politician. Those acting like career politicians today may find even more support for that value in a candidate in 2020.
Personally, I am perfectly fine waiting until the investigation concludes and all facts are laid out on the table. Your assertion that the left is beginning to realize there “is no collusion” is false. If you consume left news, meaning Rachel Maddow, Young Turks, or any other liberal echo chamber, it’s pretty clear the president is guilty as (bleep). From what I can tell, outside of Fox News, the only people saying “no collusion” still work in the White House.
Food for thought: Trump is known for giving belittling nicknames to his political enemies – crooked Hillary, lying Ted, little Marco, Rocket Man, and so on. So on top of being unwilling to enforce the sanctions passed by HIS OWN PARTY, he can’t even come up with a nickname for Vladimir Putin? Come on, Mr President, give that dictator a nickname. Putin on the Frtiz. Is that so difficult? And we’re supposed to believe there’s NOTHING there?
No one on the left believes he’s going to complete his first term.
Thanks for reading and commenting. I agree that consuming “left news” would convince someone that Trump is guilty of collusion, but I would argue that only accusations are being presented and so far, little to no hard evidence has been uncovered, despite the efforts of a predominately left-leaning news media constantly searching for such evidence. Didn’t say it didn’t exist, just that it hasn’t been found, and like the Clinton email investigation, normal Americans on both sides are getting tired of the rhetoric. Not sure the lack of nickname for Putin is hard evidence, either, but I like the thought. I think Raw-ass-Putin would be good, or even Boot-Scootin’-Putin.
Sry – also, on the narrative of Robert Meuller’s investigation being a nothingburger or a witch hunt…
He’s already served nineteen indictments and extracted multiple guilty pleas from several corrupt dudes with more to come. So even if as you suggest there was no collusion, I’d still say he’s doing a great job on some important work.
The never ending news about the supposed collusion with the Russians is really getting old. It’s no secret that the Russians were trying to mess with the elections against both parties.. But, there does not appear to be much if any result unless you happen to believe that Trump was elected because of it. I don’t and doubt that many were influenced by their tactics. I was originally going to vote for Hillary, until it became clear how corrupt she was with the Clinton Foundation (access to her office was going to the highest bidder). The actual emails from her actually spells out how she was going to get rich from being the president. The email issue was also a problem, because she provided access to Top Secret documents to one of her assistants that did not have a Top Secret clearance which clearly is a violation of the law and is punishable by going to jail for a long time. I handed classified documents before and I would have been put in jail if I had done what she did. The last item was that Hillary did not have a plan for how she was going to help this country. If she had one, I never heard anything about it. Trump has a plan to do a lot good things for this country that I agree with and he is actually doing what he said he would do. I would prefer that he would stop with the tweets, but I really don’t care as long as he gets at least some of things done that he promised.