The Republican Party must choose between Donald Trump and the party's fundamental values Trump aims to discredit and delegitimize the impeachment process by turning it into a circus. But circuses need clowns. Is the GOP up for that?

Charles Sykes | Opinion contributor

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump's Ukraine phone call: U.S. and Ukraine relationship, explained U.S. and Ukraine relations go further back than the now infamous phone call between Trump and Zelensky. We explain their relationship.

This is the stark political reality: on Thursday not a single House Republican voted for the resolution formalizing the inquiry into the impeachment of Donald Trump.

Congressman Justin Amash, who left the GOP this year, reminded his colleagues that Trump will only be in power for a short time, “but excusing his misbehavior will forever tarnish your name.” He appealed to Republicans to step out of their media bubbles. “History will not look kindly on disingenuous, frivolous, and false defenses of this man.”

When it came time to vote, not one Republican followed his advice.

The lockstep vote is a reminder of Donald Trump’s extraordinary hold over the GOP and the party’s cult-like unwillingness to break with Trump, despite the mounting evidence of his misconduct. To imagine now that Republicans will somehow show a flash of independence and conscience seems like the triumph of hope over experience.

Sticking by Trump

For the time being, Republicans have decided that sticking with Trump is the safe move, given his solid support among the base. But history’s verdict is unlikely to be kind, and what is about to happen is anything but safe.

A party line vote to exonerate the president irretrievably bonds the GOP to Trump’s conduct, character and ethics, and risks toxifying conservatism for a generation.

Republicans have already abandoned the notion that character matters, jettisoned fiscal conservativism and free markets, and accepted lying as simply the price of doing business with this president. They have watched as constitutional norms have been battered and the rule of law bent to partisan advantage.

Time and again, they have convinced themselves that it was all worth it. But the stakes are about to rise dramatically.

More: The House voted for an impeachment inquiry, and Republicans failed a test of character

The problem facing the GOP is both the facts and the man. There will be more evidence — perhaps more whistleblowers and smoking guns; the hearings will be televised; and Trump himself will up the ante.

Republicans also need to keep in mind that poll numbers actually can move. Despite strong support for Trump among Republican voters, there are already discernible cracks. A new AP poll finds that only 53% of Republican voters think that the word “honest” describes Trump “very well.” Fully a third say Trump does not make them feel proud.

And it is likely to become even more embarrassing.

The impeachment process is among the gravest responsibilities granted to Congress, by the Constitution. But Trump will demand, in effect, that the process be turned into a farce.

Just this last week, we’ve gotten a taste of what Trump will insist upon: the clownish storming of the SCIF by a few dozen House Republicans and attempts to smear Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman. Both backfired badly.

Still, the point was clear: Trump aims to discredit and delegitimize the process by turning it into a circus. But circuses need clowns. Is the GOP up for that?

The Constitution envisions senators acting like jurors. Trump will insist they behave like political hacks.

Republicans must face the facts

Then there is the evidence. Republicans won’t be able to continue hide behind process complaints. Longtime Republican consultant Stuart Stevens notes: “When Republicans are asked in years to come why they opposed impeaching a president who tried to bribe a foreign government for political help with military aid, not sure the ‘I didn’t approve of the subcommittee process' will be very compelling.”

The fact pattern is increasingly clear and consistent; Trump demanded a clear quid pro quo from the Ukrainians. Republicans may imagine that they can find a safe space by saying this conduct was bad, but not impeachable. But by “bad” they mean attempting to coerce an ally to dig up political dirt on an opponent in exchange for aid that had been approved by Congress. They will be ratifying the president’s lies, his attempts to obstruct justice and Congress, and his pattern of self-dealing corruption.

Embracing someone like Trump would have real consequences for any political party, but especially for a conservative party that exists to uphold the values that they will have to sacrifice on the altar of loyalty to a disloyal president.

Republicans also need to be clear that a vote to acquit Trump will dramatically move the ratchet of acceptable presidential behavior; and it will set a precedent not just for Trump, but for future presidents as well. Sticking with Trump will effectively place the president not only above the law, but also beyond the reach of credible constitutional accountability.

There is, of course, an alternative. Some Republicans in the Senate seem to understand the need to withhold judgment for the time being. Some even seem to have an eye on history.

After all, Republicans have been here before. The GOP was able to move on from Watergate and the disgrace of Richard Nixon because they refused to be held hostage by his misdeeds.

It was Republican Senator Howard Baker who famously asked “What did the president know, and when did it he know it?” And it was Barry Goldwater who led the GOP delegation to tell Nixon that he had to resign.

Ultimately, the choice will rest with Republican senators, who will have to decide how they want history to remember them. Do they want to be Howard Baker? Or Lindsey Graham?

Barry Goldwater? Or Matt Gaetz?

This is their time for choosing.

Charles Sykes is a founder and editor-at-large of The Bulwark and author of “How the Right Lost Its Mind.” Follow him on Twitter: @CharlieSykes