Thus ends the saga. Not a scratch on Trump's approval rating, with some polls showing a rise among independents. Biden mauled in the Iowa caucus, receiving below the DNC's 15% minimum in votes, as of 96% reporting. (Biden will still exceed the 15% DNC-rules threshold in some but not all of Iowa's congressional districts).



But considering the whole impeachment was put on to defend Biden politically (i.e. there was never the expectation of 67 Senate votes - it was to embarrass Trump and get him to back off attacking Biden), it now looks like a badly executed rearguard action more than anything else.



To be sure, the Senate "trial" was a farce. So was the House investigation. The $million or more Hunter Biden collected to lobby his father on behalf of Ukraine oligarchs in need of legal cover remains. If Biden is nominated, it will allow Trump to use it as an counterexample to justify Trump's own corrupt dealings with royal figures and regional partners in the middle east, who hold sway over both US parties, in a partnership with our own defense contractors, and habitually commit murders, anti democratic acts, and war crimes with not just impunity but active US support. The Pelosi's and McConnell's of the world are in their pocket, and media too, so no impeachment and no widely respected press would ever go there. So it goes.