WASHINGTON (AP) – As the Senate impeachment trial grinds toward a climax, it remains unclear how three Democrats will vote on whether to toss President Donald Trump from office.
Sens. Doug Jones of Alabama, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are all question marks, though they’re widely regarded as likely to vote for at least one of the two impeachment articles.
Unlike a quartet of wavering Republicans who could put Trump in peril as lawmakers decide whether to call witnesses and extend the proceedings, the three Democrats’ votes on whether to acquit him won’t likely affect the trial’s outcome. It seems certain that the GOP-run Senate will lack the 67 votes needed to remove Trump from office, no matter what the trio does.
But the Democrats’ decisions will color their political careers and this year’s presidential campaign. If one or more of them votes to acquit Trump – even voting against one article of impeachment while supporting the other, which many consider likely – it could alienate some Democratic voters, mark their legacies and let Trump spend his reelection campaign asserting that he was cleared by a bipartisan vote.
On the other hand, with Republicans now controlling the Senate 53-47, many Democrats aren’t willing to criticize moderates from swing states for voting in ways that will protect their political futures. All three wavering Democrats come from states Trump won in 2016 and where Democrats struggle to win elections.