议院议长南希·佩洛西周四宣布众议院将全力以赴起草弹劾条款即将就此事进行的议会投票有可能使脆弱的民主党人在国内选民中处于岌岌可危的境地。但是大多数成员——温和派和进步派——并没有表现出许多担忧的迹象。

民主党人在很大程度上预测弹劾唐纳德·特朗普总统的投票将与上月他们就概述弹劾调查的程序性立法进行投票时几乎相同两名民主党人脱离了党派来表示他们的反对。他们相信，投票支持调查的弱势、更温和的成员将再次投票支持弹劾条款。成员们认为，上月的弹劾听证会只是支持了他们的指控，即特朗普在乌克兰争议中犯下了可弹劾的罪行。

“这不会影响我们。这并不影响我，”汤姆·马林诺夫斯基众议员(民主党)说，他是一名大一新生，去年推翻了一个共和党选区，也是更温和的新民主党联盟的成员新闻周刊。“我已经和我的选民谈了一段时间，他们希望我做我认为正确的事情。”

民主党领导层当然意识到弹劾投票给摇摆不定的地区成员带来的不稳定局面。众议院多数党党鞭詹姆斯·克莱伯恩(民主党)在周四上午的会议上告诉同事们，他不会在支持弹劾条款的投票中抽身。

他在一份声明中表示:“我们认为，这是一个我们每个成员都要评估我们是谁、我们是什么以及我们希望拥有什么样的国家的问题。”。

共和党人已经抓住了推翻一些民主党人的潜在机会，特朗普竞选经理布拉德·帕斯凯尔就是其中之一揭露竞选已经开始投票了摇摆地区选民对弹劾的情绪。

他在推特上写道:“南希·佩洛西正带领她的核心小组成员离开跳板，走向深渊。”。

尽管如此，各政治派别的民主党人都表示新闻周刊他们并不担心投票表决弹劾条款会让议员在选举日失去工作。

马林诺夫斯基借用佩洛西的一句名言说:“我认为很少有什么事情能比代表们站出来说‘我要做我认为正确的事，而政治与此无关’更能为选民带来更好的反应了。”。

在文章起草之前，他将保留对投票方式的最终判断，但他的言论和对调查的早期支持表明他可能支持弹劾。

众议员乔·坎宁安说，他也没有感到压力。与马林诺夫斯基相似，他是第一任期的立法者，勉强推翻了红区，并且是温和派蓝狗联盟的成员。

纽约的新生代表安德鲁·布林迪西是蓝狗民主党的一员，去年他也险胜共和党共和党攻击广告反对他的人正在改变他弹劾的立场。他确实注意到他正在重新评估所有的证据，并且“还没有准备好就我现在的处境做出决定”，因为有弹劾文章。

但一位脆弱的成员承认，像他这样的温和派很可能会被迫陷入岌岌可危的境地。

众议员杰夫·范·德鲁说:“温和派总是处于困境。”新闻周刊。这位新生是新泽西州深红区的蓝狗民主党人，是上月投票反对调查的两名民主党人之一。“我确实认为这让温和派处境艰难，尽管我认为他们是我们许多问题的答案。”

他反对弹劾的想法没有改变，并向同事们发出警告:“小心你的要求。”

“归根结底，你知道弹劾将在这里进行，然后将移交给参议院，他显然将被判无罪，”范·德鲁阐述道。“这真的、真的、非常好地可能对他有所帮助。”

像大多数温和派同事一样，甚至更进步的成员也没有对弹劾投票对弱势成员意味着什么表示担忧。

华盛顿州国会进步核心小组共同主席普拉米拉·贾亚帕尔告诉记者:“他们当选是为了维护宪法，无论他们所在的地区发生了什么——其中一些地区的情况要困难得多——这都是正确的做法。”新闻周刊。

众议员埃里克·斯威尔(加州民主党)引用了七位来自国家安全领域的温和派民主党人的话华盛顿邮报专栏今年早些时候，当他们做出惊人的举动支持调查时。

“是我们这边的‘弱势成员’表现出了挺身而出的勇气...这就让我们参与了这次调查，”这位前总统候选人告诉记者新闻周刊。“我认为他们将为他们的选民、他们的良心以及他们如何解释宪法做正确的事情。这些成员使我们能够追究总统的责任。”

 

WILL IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES PUT VULNERABLE DEMOCRATS IN A TOUGH SPOT? MEMBERS FAIL TO SHOW CONCERN

With House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's announcement Thursday that the chamber is moving full steam ahead with drafting articles of impeachment, a forthcoming floor vote on the matter has the potential to place vulnerable Democrats in a precarious position with constituents back home. But most members—moderate and progressive alike—aren't showing many signs of concern.

Democrats are, for the most part, predicting a vote to impeach President Donald Trump will look nearly identical to when they voted on procedural legislation outlining their impeachment inquiry last month, where just two Democrats broke from party ranks to signal their opposition. And they're confident that the vulnerable, more moderate members who voted for the inquiry will do so again for articles of impeachment. Last month's impeachment hearings, members argued, only bolstered their allegations that Trump has committed impeachable offenses with the Ukraine controversy.

"It doesn't affect us. It doesn't affect me," Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), a freshman who flipped a Republican district last year and who's a member of the more moderate New Democrat Coalition, told Newsweek. "I've been talking to my constituents about this for some time, and they expect me to do what I think is right."

Democratic leadership is certainly aware of the precarious situation an impeachment vote puts swing district members in. House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told colleagues in a Thursday morning meeting he will not be whipping the vote on supporting impeachment articles.

"This is an issue we think each and every one of our members takes stock of who we are and what we are and what kind of country we want to have," he said in a statement.

Republicans have already seized on the potential opportunity to unseat some Democrats, with Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale revealing the campaign is already polling voters' sentiment on impeachment in swing districts.

"Nancy Pelosi is marching members of her caucus off the plank and into the abyss," he wrote on Twitter.

Still, Democrats across the political spectrum told Newsweek they aren't concerned a vote for articles of impeachment would cost members their job come election day.

"I think there's very few things that garner a better reaction for voters than representatives who will stand up and say, 'I'm going to do what I think is right and politics has nothing to do with it,'" Malinowski said, borrowing a popular line from Pelosi.

He's reserving final judgement on how he'll vote until articles are drafted, but his remarks and early support for the inquiry signal he's likely to back impeachment.

Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.) said he, too, does not feel pressure. Similar to Malinowski, he's a first-term lawmaker who narrowly flipped a red district and is a member of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition.

A fellow Blue Dog Democrat who also squeaked out a victory against a Republican last year, freshman Rep. Andrew Brindisi of New York denied the notion that Republican attack ads against him were changing his stance on impeachment. He did note that he's in the process of reevaluating all the evidence and was "not ready to make a decision on where I'm at" with impeachment articles.

But one vulnerable member did concede that moderates such as himself will likely be forced into a precarious situation.

"Moderates are always in a tough spot," Rep. Jeff Van Drew told Newsweek. A Blue Dog Democrat in a crimson red district in New Jersey, the freshman was one of the two Democrats to vote against the inquiry last month. "I do think it puts moderates in a tough spot, although I think they are the answer to so many of our problems."

His mind remained unchanged on opposing impeachment and offered a warning for his fellow colleagues: "Be careful what you ask for."

"At the end of the day, you know the impeachment will go through here, and then it will go over to the Senate and he is obviously going to be found not guilty," Van Drew elaborated. "And that really, seriously, very well may help him."

Like most of their moderate colleagues, even more progressive members showed no signs of disquiet over what an impeachment vote will mean for vulnerable members.

"They were elected to uphold the Constitution and that regardless of what's happening in their districts—some of whom have much harder districts—this is the right thing to do," Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Pramila Jayapal of Washington state told Newsweek.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) cited the seven moderate Democrats from the national security arena who penned a Washington Post op-ed earlier this year when they made the surprising move to back the inquiry.

"It's the 'vulnerable members' on our side who showed the courage of coming forward...that kind of put us in this inquiry," the former presidential candidate told Newsweek. "I think they're going to do what's right for their constituents, their conscience and how they interpret the constitution. Those members have put us in a position to hold the president accountable."