Reading this Washington Post article on the “Democrats in disarray” was quite a depressing experience. The piece concludes with the following quote from short-time presidential candidate Eric Swalwell of California who sits on the House Intelligence Committee:

“As president, he just overwhelms us,” lamented Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), a former 2020 presidential candidate. “I mean, you’ve got kids in cages — we’re trying to deal with that. We’ve got the continued mass shootings, and he won’t help us with that. And then you’ve got the urgency of this [oversight]. So, I mean, it’s really just kind of, where do you prioritize your resources and your time?”

Maybe it’s just me but I don’t think people are inclined to follow leaders who freely admit being overwhelmed and having no real idea of what to do. The same can said for political parties.

So, I have a solution.

The Democrats in Congress should follow a very basic and easy to understand strategy.

1. Declare that the president has committed and is committing many impeachable offenses and provide a list with brief explanations for each charge.
2. Consolidate these investigations into a special committee under the leadership of Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, but also including other key chairpersons like Richard Neal of Ways & Means, Maxine Waters of Financial Services, Adam Schiff of the Intelligence, Adam Smith of Armed Services and Eliot Engel of Foreign Affairs.
3. Use the special committee’s hearings to bring in legislative and constitutional experts to explain and build the case for why Trump’s crimes violate statutes and the separation of powers in the Constitution.
4. Ask the public to demand that the Republicans lend support to their efforts to remove the president from office based on their findings.
5. Hold a debate in the House on each of the charges.
6. Vote to impeach the president.
7. Demand a trial in the Senate.
8. If that trial is denied, tell the American people that the only remaining solution is to vote Trump and as many congressional Republicans as possible out of office.
9. If a trial is held and Trump is acquitted, then make the same argument as above.
10. Campaign hard in 2020.

The Democrats need to keep it simple and not going chasing every new squirrel that appears. Trump doesn’t need to be removed because he puts children in cages or solicits electoral help from foreign powers or for any other distinct cause. He needs to be removed to protect our system of government. So, the system of government is the plaintiff here. The crimes are offenses against the plaintiff. We should not be debating Trump’s sex life or who stayed at his golf resorts. We should be explaining that the president cannot violate treaties, ignore congressional subpoenas, suborn perjury, obstruct justice, violate the Emoluments Clause, make illegal appointments, blow off the statutory language of laws, engage in bribery and extortion and corrupt the pardon process. He cannot commit campaign finance crimes, withhold foreign aid for personal profit, engage in criminal conspiracies, or use the organs of state to financially intimidate the free press.

What matters is that atrocities are documented, but each atrocity doesn’t need to be exhaustively documented and every crime doesn’t have to be fully examined, especially because the president makes that impossible.

At the end of the process, there should be a list of things that Congress is on the record insisting that the president cannot do. This is more for future presidents than for Trump. If the best we can do is have the House of Representatives on the record as saying many of Trump’s actions are impeachable offenses, that will still be powerful even if the Senate acquits. Of course, the people have to do their part too. They have to vote Trump out next year along with many Republicans in Congress. If they do, then the acquittal won’t carry as much weight as the impeachment.

In a way, the goal is to go after Trump by making this as unspecific to Trump as possible. It’s not whether he did or did not do something as much as it’s about asserting what a president cannot do.

Set that marker down, and let the chips fall where they may.