If the goal was to damage President Trump by formalizing the impeachment inquiry, it’s Mission Unaccomplished for House Democrats.

If anything, the vote solidified Trump’s hold on power. There were zero GOP defections, meaning we have zero drama heading into the public phase of impeachment. Everyone is pretty much in the same lanes they’ve been in since the Russian-collusion investigation, the obstruction of justice investigation and every other investigation.

Unfortunately for the Democrats, that gives people little reason to be glued to their screens when House committees take public testimony. The basic story — Trump pressured Ukraine to announce investigations into Democrats that would help Trump — is out there already. People know how they feel about it, and if you believe the polls, they’re pretty evenly split on whether the president deserves to be thrown out of office.

The only potential drama before last week’s vote was whether there might be any movement, whether any Republicans would see it Democrats’ way.

Looks like they don’t.

And when it gets to the Senate, it will play out just the same way. Someone like Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah may break GOP ranks, but no one thinks 20 Republicans, the bare minimum who would have to defect to convict Trump, would actually do so.

So the Democrats will spend the next few precious months acting out a pretend cliffhanger to which everyone actually knows the script and the ending. No plot twists in sight. Remember health care, the issue that won so many elections for Democrats in 2018? You might, but they don’t seem to.

Come next year, Trump will have an impeachment victory and quite possibly a solid economy. The Democrats will have — what?

Two sides of Oakland: I made a trip to Scott’s Seafood Grill and Bar along the Oakland waterfront the other day and found both a gem and a jungle.

The occasion was a dinner reception for “Voices of the Civil Rights Movement,” a multimedia collaboration of Comcast NBCUniversal and the Equal Justice Initiative that memorializes the stories of men and women who have championed racial equality. We had former state Assemblyman Sandré Swanson, former Black Panther leader Elaine Brown, the Rev. Amos Brown, former NBA star Al Attles and myself.

Outside Scott’s, Jack London Square really caught my attention, with its great views and well-maintained walkways. It’s an example of a city on the move.

I can’t say the same for the ride over to the square.

We took a wrong exit and wound up crawling along Fifth Street under the freeway. It was lined with some of the biggest tents and shantytown structures I have ever seen — it made San Francisco’s worst encampments look like a Cub Scout sleepover.

Something caught my ear, so I had the driver pull over so I could walk along the tent line for a look. Sure enough, I had heard something. It was the sound of TVs coming from inside the tents.

Guess that’s affordable housing, Oakland style.

Blackout call: I never knew I had so many friends in Marin County and the Oakland hills who work out.

They were all calling me during the recent blackouts and asking if they could join me for a morning at the gym in the Millennium Tower, where I live.

After about the third call I started asking, “Do your really want to work out?”

“No, but I could really use a place to shower before going to work,” was the usual reply.

Movie time: “Black and Blue.” Naomie Harris stars in this New Orleans thriller about a black rookie cop and Iraq War veteran who stumbles into a murder on her first day on the job. The problem is, it’s the cops who did the killing. She soon finds herself on the run from the cops and from her own community. Great action. And, in this movie, corruption has no color boundaries.

Pssst: Join me and John Konstin for a free political insiders lunch at John’s Grill on election day from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. It’s always a lot of fun, and several of the candidates have said they’re coming by.

One for the road: I walked into a bar near Second and Mission the other night and sat in one of two empty seats. After a couple of minutes a woman came up and said, “I have long admired you. Do you mind if I sit next to you?”

“Go right ahead.”

A moment later she said, “Buy me a drink?”

I said, well, what do I get for buying you a drink?

“Anything you want.”

I bought her a drink.

“So what do you want?” she asked.

“Peace and quiet and for you to move.”

Want to sound off? Email wbrown@sfchronicle.com.