The real reason Mitt Romney is playing this trial the way he’s playing it
Mitt Romney’s name is trending right now because he’s announced that he’s going to support Mitch McConnell’s plan to let both sides present their impeachment trial cases, before deciding whether to call witnesses. Everyone is outraged that Romney is going this route, accusing him of “caving” and having no spine. That outrage is well-meaning, and Romney deserves all the criticism you can throw at him in general. But just about everyone is misunderstanding what Romney is doing here, because no one seems to want to acknowledge how these things actually work.
Mitt Romney isn’t doing what’s best for Donald Trump, or Mitch McConnell, or the Republican Party. Romney is doing what’s best for Romney. Romney would love to be the Republican nominee for president in 2020, and for that to happen, he has to take Donald Trump down. But he has to thread that needle very carefully, because if Trump isn’t going down, Romney wants to be able to keep his Senate career on track.
To that end, Mitt Romney wants to see which way the wind is going to end up blowing in this impeachment trial, before he commits himself to one side or the other. If he sees an opportunity at any point during this trial to knock Trump out by calling damaging witnesses like John Bolton, and if he has the three additional GOP Senate votes he needs, he’ll do it. If that opportunity doesn’t arise, Romney won’t push for witnesses. It’s as simple as that.
So why is Mitt Romney falling in line with Mitch McConnell on today’s vote? It’s the only way to keep his options open. Romney still has the ability to force witnesses to testify, if at any point during the trial he decides that’s what is personally best for his own career ambitions.
It’s very, very, very easy to understand what these Republican Senators are doing, why they’re doing it, and under what conditions they’ll do what thing next. All you have to do is set aside concepts like “trust” and “courage” and “growing a spine” and “caving” and “doing the right thing.” Those are not concepts that apply to Republicans. You also have to set aside the nonsense idea that the Republican Senators are motivated by a desire to help Trump. They couldn’t care less about Trump. They’re each selfishly looking to figure out what’s best for themselves. It’s what makes them Republicans.
I hate Mitt Romney even more than you do. But he didn’t “cave” today. That’s simply not what happened. He decided to keep his options open so he can selfishly go either way on witnesses, depending on which way the wind ends up blowing in this trial. It’s truly as simple as that. Any attempt at characterizing any of this as doing the “right thing” or “wrong thing” is gibberish. In addition, throughout this process, Romney will say things aimed at playing both sides. His words are best ignored. Romney will do what Romney ends up deciding is best for Romney. There are literally no other factors at play here.
