Not even Senators seemed very interested in the trial, writes Mike Yardley. (Photo / CNN)

Mike Yardley: Low-rating impeachment trial bad news for Democrats

Author: Mike Yardley,
Publish Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2020, 11:57AM

In the court of public opinion, week one of the Trump impeachment trial has been a fizzer. A soul-sapping, stultifying farce. A brain-frying bust.

Many senators flaunted the no-cellphones rule, by communicating on their smartwatches, or just falling asleep.

CNN sycophantically hailed Adam Schiff, the house manager, as a masterful made-for-television prosecutor. The viewer would disagree.

Here’s the first week’s ratings on the Senate Trial, as the Democrats laid out their case. The six news networks covering the trial averaged 11 million viewers. And the longer the week went on, the deeper the drop-off rate cratered. Compared to other televised moments of great historical import, it’s a flop.

Remember the Senate hearings into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh? And Christine Blazey Ford’s testimony? That pulled in 21 million viewers. The midterm elections raked in 36 million viewers. Last year’s State of the Union? 47 million. And what about election night 2016? 71 million.

But beyond the flaccid TV ratings, what should really worry the Democrats are the polls. Over the weekend, the ABC News Washington Post Poll on the Trump trial, revealed a minority of voters believe Trump should be removed from office. 47 to 51.

And there’s your problem. The Democratic Party has sought to unsuccessfully assassinate a presidential career. The fallout could be devastating come November.

But with the first primary votes just a week away in Iowa, in case you had forgotten, the Dems have other problems too. This is a terribly fractured, inter-tribal party of identity politics, where Biden’s camp hates Bernies, and vice versa. Hillary’s incursion last week speaks volumes.

Bitterly factionalised between the hard left and centre-left, the prospects of a brokered convention are rising by the day, if no clear winner emerges from the primary race. And what a brutal, bitchy dogfight a brokered convention would be. Can the Democrats truly unite and fire up the entire party base to even be in with a chance in November? Or will a lot them stay at home?