By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – The former Peoria-area Congressman who presided over the Clinton impeachment two decades ago says Democrats should forget about going after President Trump.
Republican Ray LaHood says the process will take so long anyway that everyone should quiet down and let voters sort it out on Election Day 2020 – just thirteen months away.
LaHood says impeachment would “turn the Nation’s Capital upside-down. They may get the votes to impeach. The votes to convict will never be there, and the American people are going to be very conflicted about this.”
LaHood says if Democrats have a goal of throwing Trump out of office, they can forget it; “That’s not going to happen. The Republican Senate is not going to vote to convict Trump.”
On a related topic, LaHood says gridlock and partisanship are far worse than when he served. The disciple of and successor to longtime House Minority Leader Bob Michel says relationships across party lines “need to be formed if Congress is going to really solve immigration or pass an infrastructure bill or fix our fiscal mess. It can’t be done by one party. It has to be done by the members knowing one another, respecting one another, debating one another, and coming up with solutions.”
LaHood was U.S. transportation secretary in the Obama administration and currently consults. He is the father of current 18th District U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Dunlap).
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].
