Manchin might be another question. Assuming it ever gets to the Senate.
Doug Jones is the Senate’s most vulnerable incumbent. So it’s no wonder he’s refrained from taking a definitive stance on impeachment.
Jones told ABC News over the weekend that if the “dots aren’t connected” during the Senate’s impeachment trial, he might vote to acquit President Trump.
“I think these are really serious allegations,” Jones said. “I have been trying to see if the dots get connected. If that is the case, then I think it’s a serious matter, and I think it’s an impeachable matter. But if those dots aren’t connected and there are other explanations that are consistent with innocence, I will go that way too.”
The Republican-controlled Senate will almost certainly vote to acquit Trump with or without Jones’s vote, so it wouldn’t make that much of a difference to the Democratic Party if Jones does decide to defect. It could, however, make a big difference to Jones’s constituency in bright red Alabama.
Jones won the election in Alabama in part because the Republican candidate was completely unelectable. He won’t have that luxury again. And keep in mind that this is a state Trump won in 2016 by nearly 30 points. Already, Jones’s approval ratings in his state are lagging, but not by much.